We are all going to learn the difference between "not winning a war" and "losing" a war. Biden may learn that while Americans don't care much about the former, a lot of Americans care very much about the latter.
Mistakes are made in all wars. A big problem is that it is easy to get discouraged by our ease of seeing our own problems--real or imagined--while not being able to see enemy problems with the same detail. Even the "greatest generation" screwed up a lot in World War II.
So yes, we made mistakes waging war in Afghanistan. But none were critical enough to result in losing the war. The latest mistake was the biggest, and Biden made it by abandoning the Afghanistan government. Consequences will follow:
No doubt mistakes have been made over the years, but we’re about to be reminded what failure really looks like. For nearly 20 years the American-led presence has kept at bay the terror threat and prevented Afghanistan from being used as a haven for extremists targeting our homeland. No longer. Stability is an undervalued asset in international relations. In diplomacy, as in life, you never fully appreciate what you have until it’s gone.
This week, President Joe Biden made a dark political bet that Americans would forget a 20-year war. Biden and his aides, many of whom have lived and worked inside the bubble of Washington for most of their adult lives, believed the political fallout would be limited because people were war-weary.
I believe I mentioned that Biden may have erred in assuming that Americans who were frustrated at not winning the Afghanistan war will not forgive him for losing it so spectacularly.
I'm sure his public polling analysis--more important to him than military and intelligence analysis--reassured him that he could bug out cleanly. But he may be counting on Americans not caring about winning the war after all this time.
Handing America a sudden and spectacular defeat that has shocked our allies as much as it has delighted our enemies might be a completely different matter.
As we lost Afghanistan, I noted there is a big difference between "not winning a war" and "losing" a war. That difference may apply to the public's view of Biden decision and decision-making capacity. His cloudy thinking in the days after the Taliban overran Kabul may bounce his political rubble even higher.
I mean, Jesus Christ, were any viewers but our enemies comforted by the dumpster fire of a press conference Biden held?
I really don't think this is a matter of Biden's public opinion ratings surviving this debacle. I think his presidency is about to end. I really do. His staff and media allies can't hide his mental capacity any more. And more important, I don't think they want to hide it any more. And when our last troops fly out of Kabul, I think Biden's days are numbered.
And God help us, regardless of Biden's political fate, I don't know if our humiliation is over.
UPDATE: Via Instapundit: The Taliban offered to allow America to control Kabul and the airport in order to withdraw?
As long as Biden relied on the Taliban for keeping the airport open, why not put the troops into the city in order to evacuate Americans and others? We could have contracted our area of control in the city as we moved people closer to the airport.
Good Lord, did the Biden administration decide it didn't want the opportunity to rescue that many people? Was it afraid that if it left people behind when under our protection rather than under Taliban control that it would be more obviously Biden's fault?
Tar. Feathers. Soon.
UPDATE: Screw you guys, we're going home:
The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war.
Well, it could have ended much worse if our enemies decided not to just let us go.
I wonder how the war will unfold between their suicide bombers and our over-the-horizon efforts?
