Biden Still Blaming Trump

[GURPS]

White House Afghanistan Report Says Trump 'Severely Constrained' Withdrawal Options​

Defense And Security, White House, National Security Council, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Afghanistan, Middle East, World, Foreign Policy, Taliban, US Military

AllSides Summary​

The National Security Council on Thursday released a 12-page summary of the administration’s review of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying the government now prioritized earlier evacuations and highlighting Trump administration actions that purportedly contributed to the withdrawal’s problems.

Evacuating Earlier: The summary does not directly state that the U.S. should have started evacuations sooner. However, it does say the government now prioritizes earlier evacuations “when faced with a degrading security situation,” citing Ethiopia in late 2021 and Ukraine in early 2022 as examples.

Blaming Trump: The summary said President Joe Biden’s “choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” adding that despite a series of troop withdrawals, the prior administration “provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.” It also said former President Donald Trump “emboldened the Taliban by publicly considering inviting them to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11” and “pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, including senior war commanders,” as part of a deal with the Taliban.

How the Media Covered It: Headlines across the spectrum often framed the report as “blaming Trump” or “admitting” the evacuation could have happened sooner. While some coverage from the left described the withdrawal as “chaotic,” some coverage from the right implied blame by saying Biden “fumbled” it.

 

[SamSpade]

I'm so sick of this. You're the damned President of the United States. You're not limitless in your abilities, but you can do a lot of stuff.

Moreover, you were put in office to fix it - not EFF IT UP AND FIND SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR IT. I haven't seen a Democratic President in my lifetime that hasn't done this (my memories of JFK and LBJ are a little dim - I don't believe they did it either).

I can't think of a single person in my life - my doctors, dentists, mechanics, carpenters, and so forth - if I HIRE THEM TO DO A JOB and they screw it up, I have no intention of keeping them if their entire reaction is - wasn't MY fault. Yes it is. You came here. I PAID YOU to fix something you said you could fix. Fix it or you're gone, and I'm suing for my money back.

 

[GURPS]

Pompeo torches Kirby after White House shifts blame to Trump for deadly Afghanistan withdrawal​

The White House on Thursday released its review of President Biden's fumbled 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan while Trump's indictment continues to dominate the headlines. The 12-page outline called the overall decision to end the 20-year war the right thing for America, but declined to acknowledge any mistakes made by Biden while instead repeatedly criticizing Trump's administration.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said Thursday it was always Biden's intent to end the war, but at the same time "undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him."

Mike Pompeo, who also served as CIA director under Trump, said he wasn't surprised by Kirby's tact, saying President Biden and members of his administration routinely blame anyone but themselves for their own multiple failures.