Still Dealing With This Afghanistan Mess

Biden was not beholden to Trump’s deal. But Biden should’ve kept to the plan the Trump administration drew up. At least all the US military equipment Were you forwarded this email? [Sign-up to Rude Awakening here.]( [Unsubscribe]( [The Rude Awakening] Still Dealing With This Afghanistan Mess - Biden was not beholden to Trump’s deal. - But Biden should’ve kept to the plan the Trump administration drew up. - At least all the US military equipment would’ve made it back home. Recommended Link [Urgent Warning]( We’ve never seen a [presentation like this…]( It’s so groundbreaking, we’re removing from the web tomorrow at 9:30am [Don’t Invest Another Dollar Until You Watch This 3-Minute Video.]( Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Happy Hump Day! Halfway there, although it’s been a ludicrous week politically anyway. Lazy Joe just left blood, treasure, and a truckload of weapons at the Taliban’s disposal. It’s a mess and will probably damage whatever authority Biden thought he had for the rest of his time in office. No, Joe, You Were Not Beholden to “The Deal” I realize all presidents blame their predecessors for their misfortunes, especially self-authored ones. But Biden blaming Trump for this botched pullout is especially sad. Here’s Biden laying into Trump on Saturday: When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. forces. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice — follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our forces and our allies’ forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict. Since the Senate didn’t ratify Trump’s deal, Biden was not legally, morally, or ethically tied to it. Full stop. But let’s back up for a minute. Whenever it’s suited Crazy Joe, he’s been more than happy to reverse Trump’s policies anyway. On his very first day in office, he led America back into the money-wasting, useless Paris Accord, a climate deal so bad it gives China and India ten year passes for non-compliance. They’re “signatories” but not beholden to the actual script until 2030. Biden also waived the sanctions on Iran so he could renegotiate with them on the Obama-era nuclear deal. Biden reversed Trump’s transgender ban in the military. Biden scrapped the Mexico City protocols so the USG could give money to NGOs promoting abortion around the world. Let’s not get into Biden’s other disaster: the US border with Mexico. Other than dumping this mess in his predecessor’s lap, I’m not sure what Old Joe is talking about. Neither is he, probably. Ok, Hotshot, What Was Great About Trump’s Deal? New Yorker writer Dexter Filkins [described it]( The deal itself is simple, but it kind of sets off this cascade of other things which are not so simple. But the deal basically says the Taliban won't kill any Americans, and we won't attack the Taliban. And if all goes well and the Taliban agree not to support any kind of terrorism against the United States or not to allow terrorists in the country or any kind of bases, the United States will leave and go to zero and take out all of its forces by May 1. And so at the present moment today, the U.S. has about 2,500 troops there, and then there's about 5,000 other NATO European troops who are there but who are kind of waiting on the U.S. to make a decision. So there's about 7,500 troops in the country right now. Now I’m going to make a leaping inference: I suggest that Trump would’ve withdrawn all the troops and all the weaponry, too. Because that’s precisely what didn’t happen over the past two days. Bradley Bowman, a former Black Hawk pilot who served in Afghanistan and has sharply criticized the U.S. withdrawal, told [Defense News]( “there’s no doubt that they’ve captured hundreds of Humvees and artillery and other equipment — and aircraft.” Twitter has outdone itself with all the pictures those friendly Taliban uploaded for our perusal. I’ve included some below. Now that the Taliban have complete control over Afghanistan, it’s the new, proud owner of the Afghan Air Force. Bully for them; you paid for it! More from Defense News: “Now, with Afghanistan under Taliban control, the question is no longer whether the organization will gain access to the Afghan air force’s inventory of U.S.-provided planes and helicopters, but what it plans to do with them — and what the U.S. military can do in response.” Recommended Link [If You Missed Tesla’s Epic Run –]( [Do NOT MISS This!]( After Tesla surged a whopping 695% in 2020, everyone’s wondering… Can Elon Musk do it again? It’s anyone’s guess. But one thing’s for sure… It pays to follow what Elon Musk is up to. So we dug deep to get the “hidden Elon story” no one else is covering. This has NOTHING to do with Tesla… And EVERYTHING to do with Elon’s next big project. You do NOT want to miss this opportunity. [Click here to see what Elon has up his sleeve now.]( More from Bowman: If we do that now, then I could see the Taliban changing its disposition toward the evacuation operations in Kabul. So get all the Americans out, do as best as we can getting our Afghan partners out. Once that’s done … then why the heck wouldn’t we destroy every rotary-wing and fixed aircraft that the Taliban has captured? I think we absolutely should. Defense News continues: The Afghan air force operated 23 A-29 attack planes, four C-130 cargo planes, and a total of 33 militarized versions of the Cessna Caravan, some of which were configured for a light attack mission, according to the special inspector report. It also flew about 150 helicopters, which included the American-made UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter and armed MD-530s, as well as the Soviet Mi-17. So let’s agree on this: Trump never would’ve left all that equipment on the ground. Biden, a lifelong politician, and his swamp bureaucrats have no regard for the cost and implications of giving away these arms to unabashed terrorists. What’s Next? I’ve had some interesting conversations over the past 24 hours on social media. Here’s an important point. Except for the most ardent and stubborn neocons, I don’t think anyone thinks we ever should’ve been in Afghanistan. Most sensible folks wanted out of there decades ago. So taking “We botched the pullout” as a sign that “the US should stay” is idiotic. For Biden supporters - or, more accurately, Never Trumpers - this is a great time for a potshot at the former president. But they’re incorrect on the facts and morally wrong. For Trump supporters, the evidence continues to pile up that Joe Biden was an awful choice in the 2020 election. Yesterday, [Mark Steyn]( wrote, ”As for the enemy, the good news is that if your regime is attacked by America, you'll likely wind up with even more territory than you started with.” That quote is a staggering indictment of the idiocy running rampant in Washington, DC right now. The place has never been where the best and brightest wind up, but now it’s undoubtedly attracting only those with a devious ability to climb the greasy pole. In the meantime, thoughts and prayers go out to the 15,000 American citizens stuck in Kabul. May they get home safely, with or without the USG’s help. In the meantime, have a great day. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening [Whitelist Us]( | [Archive]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Rude Awakening is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [unsubscribe](. 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