Joe Biden bears a grave responsibility for the chaos in Afghanistan
The President’s handling of this sorry affair raises serious questions about his
ability to lead America and the free world
Joe Biden’s attempts to deflect blame away from the White House for the
Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan are utterly lacking in conviction.
While the US President insists that he stands “squarely” by his unilateral
decision to withdraw American forces, the country’s rapid descent into chaos
since the fall of Kabul at the weekend suggests it has been nothing short of a
disaster, both for the future of the Afghan people and for America’s world
standing.
The President attempted to shift the blame onto his predecessor Donald
Trump, who negotiated the original deal with the Taliban, the Doha
Agreement, in February last year, and which laid the groundwork for
America’s military withdrawal. Mr Biden has also criticised the Afghan people
themselves for not heeding his call, made last week, to unite and “fight for
themselves”.
Mr Trump’s Taliban deal was far from perfect, as it was negotiated without
involving Afghanistan’s democratically-elected government. Nevertheless, the
basis of the agreement was that the completion of America’s military
withdrawal was contingent on the Taliban reaching a peace deal with Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani.
This vital requirement became obsolete the moment Mr Biden announced
that America was ending its 20-year-long involvement in Afghanistan in time
for next month’s anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which prompted
Washington’s military intervention in the first place.
With Afghanistan’s principal ally withdrawing its support at such a critical
juncture, it is perhaps hardly surprising that the country’s beleaguered
security forces lost the will to fight, and Mr Biden’s casual dismissal of their
efforts makes the American leader appear callous and uncaring.
Indeed, the President’s handling of this sorry affair raises serious questions
about his competence both as the leader of the free world and as America’s
commander-in-chief. Mr Biden assumed power in January promising to bring
political stability to Washington after the turbulence of the Trump era. Yet his
bungling of America’s exit from Afghanistan has resulted in the US suffering
arguably the greatest blow to its global prestige since Vietnam in the 1970s.
Mr Biden looks increasingly like a weak and isolated president, one whose
political fortunes may have suffered irreparable damage.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/...s-afghanistan/