 If it is not President Joe Biden directing American domestic and foreign policy, then who is? (Image source: iStock) |
The images of our desperate Afghan allies begging for rescue as their nation falls into the darkness of the Taliban will become permanently etched in the legacy of the Biden Administration. So too will infants being handed by frantic parents into the arms of U.S. Marines, more than 800 people jammed into a departing C-17 cargo plane, and Taliban beating and whipping those seeking access to the Kabul airport.
Yet the Biden administration was repeatedly told by military brass and intelligence officials that this was going to be the nightmare scenario if they unilaterally pulled American forces out at the end of this month. President Joe Biden's order that created heart-rending havoc ignored all professional advice, insight, and guidance. His Kabul chaos has made the disorderly evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II look like an act of military precision.
How could he do this? For those who follow the grifters, pilot fish, and "consultants" who wallow behind the wake of this administration it should come as no surprise. The lobbyists now working K Street with access to the White House would have been familiar to him as the same profiteers who enjoyed enormous retainers during the Obama years. One suspects it is a closed and suffocating world.
What, for instance, must US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts be thinking? His court, despite the best efforts of Justice Clarence Thomas, declined even to consider allegations of presidential voter fraud. Could that be considered an abdication of judicial responsibility? The pass ensured a Biden presidency resulting, among other failures, in the tragedy that is unfolding in Afghanistan.
There is a bitter irony that Biden's actions are occurring on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. ISIS and Al-Qaeda are already doubtless speaking about reasserting their presence in a Taliban-subjugated Afghanistan. If Biden has no humanitarian concerns for those Afghans who believed in American promises to evacuate them if events went south, then what of his fellow American citizens who remember all too well the events of 9/11/2001? Permit me to quote from a friend who served as an EMT that terrible morning and went on to fight as a Marine in the War on Terror:
So, I have been quiet about this all. I have several photos important to me over the last 20 years of events. The first is of the American Express building on 9/12/01. I was an EMT in NYC and one of the first ones at the WTC... upon arrival I had to handle more burn victims than I ever experienced, we treated and tagged everyone.
"Eventually as the morning progressed and the buildings fell I made it in to the AMEX building as it took the hit from the collapse of the North Tower, I was knocked over and knocked out for a few minutes until I stood up and collected myself. In a fog I looked around and I was alone.... full of grey dust and in time people came through the front. The first person I met was a probie (probation) fireman from the FDNY. I asked him if he was ok and he was hysterical... saying his wife was in the building... my heart sank.... Then immediately after, a few more firemen came in. One was a Lieutenant. I asked them if they needed anything. To a man, like the typical FDNY firefighter, they said they were good.... I asked the LT if 'he got them'... he looked me dead in the eyes and said 'I don't have a Company anymore'.... My response was 'these are your men now'.... he nodded, collected them, and walked back into the abyss.
"The AMEX building is the only reason I am still alive. I don't remember much, but I was on the street then told to run.... I heard the rumble and knew it was bad. Like many, I ran. I got lucky. Many did not. I recall coming across a random foot, hand.... mush part... I dunno. In the end I lost my Uncle Pete from Rescue 4... my old partner from the Bronx Yamel Marino.... and the guys I was on a box with a few hours earlier.... back to Yamel.... single mom of an 8 year old and she was a saint. We found her mostly intact, I don't want to go into more than that... it's a nightmare. I kept working the area until I was recalled back to active duty.... Being recalled was a relief.... I am not sure how much more I could have taken being on the pile.... Those men are bigger than me.
"I landed in Afghanistan in 2002. I was out of the USMC and volunteered to go back, I fixed planes, KC-130s, I was an air-crewman and flew missions.... transported prisoners, moved trash etc. etc.... did my time and was released.
"All our efforts in Afghan have be uprooted by a complete disaster of an administration.... you can spin it all you want..... the fault is firmly at the feet of this presidency. I dare anyone to debate me on this. Bring your A game because for 20+ years I have been tracking it all.
"We Afghan/Iraq vets did not lose this.... our government did. Gents and Gals, hold your head high.... we won every fight. We beat them at every angle. We did our jobs, we did it honorably.... in the end yes... our government lost it for us... but while most of America was at the mall, we were all in the mix shedding our time, effort and blood. I see it like this.... on 9/11/01 we lost about 3000 people... 343 members of the FDNY.... my extended family.... the last casualty in this was a FDNY member, U.S. Marine Chris Slutman. We both reenlisted the same day to "do more" back in 2005. What a punch in the gut. Debate me or unfriend me.... if you voted for this clown... this loss is on you. What broke me was the video of the mother throwing her newborn to the Marines on the wall.... I just about puked.... but this is all squarely on who's in office now.... even if he doesn't know it."
That final observation from an individual I am proud to know reveals what many of us wonder. This president is making terribly flawed decisions for which history and the American people will hold him accountable. And if it is not Biden directing American domestic and foreign policy, then who is?
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
