Thursday, September 09, 2021

Leadership Will Determine Our Loss of Credibility

I know America will endure this Afghanistan skedaddle debacle. We are powerful. We are insulated geographically. And we have the ability to change our leadership. But our leadership has to change, and I see little hope in the short run of improvement on that factor.

As I wrote earlier,:

... the fall of Saigon in 1975 encouraged communists around the world and the retreat from Iraq in 2011 spurred the rise of ISIL. Yes, America recovered from both needless shots into our own foot. But it could be an ugly 5 years until we do recover. If we in fact recover this time without major enemy victories in our danger zone of weakened credibility.

We elected Reagan in 1980 and then went on to win the Cold War 9 years later. And in late 2014 Obama re-engaged in Iraq to eventually reverse the loss after the stunning rise of ISIL across Syrian and Iraqi territory in the first half of 2014. 

We did recover our credibility after those two hits to our reputation. Now we have to climb that hill again after toppling down because of our own ineptitude. So yeah, I'm angry and depressed right now

And yes, I've bitterly attacked Biden over this. In many ways more than I am comfortable with doing. But a lot of that bitterness is based on the fact that Biden is clearly incapable of being president and not because of his political party. 

My bitterness is enhanced by the fact that Biden was sold to our public by a complicit media as a lucid, experienced savior. He would keep us from enduring another term of Trump, who was falsely and relentlessly portrayed as a failure and a dictator. The extraordinary efforts of the administration to deny the reality of Biden's mental state is stunning

Can the Biden administration begin the recovery from his Afghanistan debacle as Obama began to do after his own mistake of prematurely withdrawing from Iraq in 2011?

Or does recovery of our credibility require a new president as Reagan achieved? Which might not happen until January 2025. And can we get a Reagan or perhaps a Washington?


America will endure. But we have a dangerous period ahead of us that our current leadership probably can't handle.

Adjust your pucker factor accordingly.