We didn't like failing to win in Afghanistan. We'll like losing in Afghanistan even less if it emboldens our enemies.
Former Obama Secretary of Defense Panetta on the Afghanistan Skedaddle:
"It just struck me that they were crossing their fingers and hoping chaos would not result. And it doesn’t work that way. ...right now it just does not look like we have our act together[.]" He "expressed surprise at the seeming lack of preparation."
If our enemies aren't lining up to exploit this window of opportunity to get stuff while the getting is good, they are fools. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Iraq--and our mall and airport operators--had best be watching their enemies very closely right now. And doubling the guard and checking ammo.
Because in America, the adults are back in charge with Smart Diplomacy® and a woke military, baby!
I'm not on board Steyn's view that the Taliban were inevitably going to win. Our humiliation is our own doing.
His very correct condemnation of our newly woke-adjacent senior military leadership on this war is a part of the reason for the defeat, to be sure. I want heads to roll. Actually, I want a bunch of senior military, intelligence, and diplomatic officials to have the honor and decency to resign. But who am I fooling with that hope?
Even those who warned against hasty and ill-timed withdrawal won't resign in protest. They didn't before when it might have stopped the disaster. And they won't now. Hell, they probably won't even leak anything that might damage Biden as opposed to just covering their butts. The contrast with bureaucrat behavior under Trump when they eagerly testified in Congressional committees and spilled their guts to friendly reporters in order to change policy is easy to predict.
But despite the problems we faced in Afghanistan, I
think we could have stumbled along without disaster if it hadn't been
for Biden's disastrous decision to bug out when we did. The Afghan forces, with our help, were good enough for government work. Which is enough when it comes to war.
But Steyn is absolutely right that this humiliation isn't just about Afghanistan:
I was on a panel with the great Bernard Lewis a couple of years ago - actually six or seven years ago - and Bernard said that the danger here is that America risks being seen as harmless as an enemy, and treacherous as a friend... It's a very dangerous lesson to teach the planet.
Biden has inverted the Marine aspiration of being no worse enemy and no better friend.
Have a super sparkly day.
