Week 2: Top 10 headlines highlighting Biden’s Afghanistan debacle
Here are ten headlines from this week showing the impact of Biden’s incompetence:
Politico: The darkest day of Joe Biden’s presidency
A series of terrorist attacks left at least 13 U.S. service people dead and 15 wounded — the deadliest U.S. casualty event in Afghanistan since 2011. It was the most devastating moment in Biden’s young presidency.
CNN: Biden in turmoil as blast in Kabul raises leadership questions
The bloody coda to a tortured 20 years — the loss of 13 US troops and at least 90 Afghans in blasts outside Kabul’s airport on Thursday — exemplified the human tragedy and ultimate futility of a conflict that failed in its core purpose: purging Afghan soil of terrorism. In a cruel irony, the latest Americans to die perished in an attack conceived in the very same land as the al Qaeda assault on September 11, 2001, that triggered the war they were trying to leave.
The New York Times: Biden Ran on Competence and Empathy. Afghanistan Is Testing That.
For most of the last week, in the fires of the worst foreign policy crisis of his young administration, the president who won the White House on a promise of competence and compassion has had trouble demonstrating much of either.
New York Times: As Biden Faces a Political Crisis, His Party Looks On in Alarm
With President Biden facing a political crisis that has shaken his standing in his party, Democrats across the country are increasingly worried about their ability to maintain power in Washington, as his administration struggles to defend its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and stanch a resurgent pandemic that appeared to be waning only weeks ago.
The Atlantic: Biden needs a clear Afghanistan policy
The execution of a policy that Biden supported for years looks like a complete improvisation by a national-security bureaucracy that wanted to pretend it had no idea Biden would make this decision.
Wall Street Journal: Biden’s Collapsing Reputation
The significant deterioration in support for Mr. Biden since the start of his presidency—accelerated by his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan—is likely due in part to unrealistic expectations sold to news consumers by U.S. media outlets and by Mr. Biden himself.
The New York Times: How Many People in Afghanistan Need to be Rescued? The Number Remains Elusive.
Yet U.S. officials are reluctant to offer an estimate of the one number that matters most: How many people ultimately need to be rescued.
Wall Street Journal: In Kabul, Private Rescue Efforts Grow Desperate as Time to Evacuate Afghans Runs Out
“It’s total chaos,” said Warren Binford, a law professor at the University of Colorado who has been working on evacuation efforts. “What’s happening is that we’re seeing a massive underground railroad operation where, instead of running for decades, it’s literally running for a matter of hours, or days.”
Politico: U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate
“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”
NBC News: Taliban threats, Biden’s deadline force stateside scramble to evacuate female Afghan judges
Now, Whalen, a retired Vermont family court judge, is most worried about getting them inside the airport and away from the Taliban’s guns. She fears they’re running out of time. The Taliban has warned that the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops is a “red line.” “We could have all the planes in the world land at that airport, but getting to the tarmac is almost impossible,” she said.
RELATED:
Week 1: Top 10 headlines highlighting Biden’s Afghanistan debacle