John Kirby, the coordinator of the National Security Council, has disclosed that Joe Biden took satisfaction in the commotion that preceded the US pullout from Afghanistan earlier this year. The president apparently stood by his choice despite the tragic loss of 13 marines, the abandoning of American citizens, and the enormous amount of military hardware left behind. Many people feel that the way the withdrawal was handled was a serious case of leadership failure, which has led to considerable worry and criticism in response to this news.
Kirby was questioned at a press conference regarding a recently published White House study of Biden’s withdrawal and was asked, “I understand you’ve made clear the President does not have any regrets about his decision to withdraw, but in hindsight in reading this, does the President have any regrets about how this withdrawal was carried out?”
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Kirby answered, “The President is very proud of the manner in which the men and women of the military, the Foreign Service intelligence community, went on and on and on and conducted this withdrawal.”
“I’ve been around operations my entire life, and there’s not a single one that ever goes perfectly according to plan. Things happen,” he added.
The memo, according to Fox News, “repeatedly attacks the Trump administration for limiting the conditions of US withdrawal,” something Biden had previously done as far back as August 16, 2021, when he accused Trump of doing the same and mentioned a deal the former president had made. Back then, Biden stated, “I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risks, we planned for every contingency.”
President Biden announced that the US forces would start leaving Afghanistan in April of this year. But by July, the rapid withdrawal of the forces had led to the destruction of Bagram Air Base and an incredible $7 billion worth of military hardware, including vital night vision goggles. The peak of Afghanistan’s fighting season and the US pullout coincided, giving the Taliban plenty of time to take over strategic areas. When the Taliban abruptly grabbed control of the nation’s capital, Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani fled, and the situation descended into anarchy. To make matters worse, the crisis started while President Biden was on vacation at Camp David.
An ISIS-K suicide bomber outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021, killed 13 Marines and injured more than 60 others.
Biden referred to his son Beau Biden, who passed away from cancer rather than dying in battle, as he addressed the families of the 13 Marines who had died. Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz’s father, Mark Schmitz, described the meeting as follows: “It didn’t go well. He talked a bit more about his own son than he did my son, and that didn’t sit well with me.”
A damning report from the Republican Party’s Foreign Affairs Committee in 2021 criticized President Biden for how he handled the drawdown from Afghanistan. In a subsequent report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February 2022, heartbreaking statistics showed that over 300 four-legged animal pals were cruelly abandoned along with close to 9,000 Americans who were left behind in the nation during the turbulent departure.
Biden’s failed withdrawal was investigated in January by Republican Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, who serves as the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “We owe this to the American people, especially our service members and veterans.”
When Fox News’ Peter Doocy questioned whether anyone would be fired as a result of the withdrawal later in Thursday’s news conference, Kirby reiterated his position. The document, according to Kirby, was not about “accountability.”
“Nobody’s saying that everything was perfect. But there was a lot that went right,” Kirby said.
