President Biden is privately defiant that he made the right calls on Afghanistan in 2021 despite the U.S. military's chaotic exit, according to an upcoming book obtained by Axios.Why it matters: Biden believes history will look kindly on his decision to end the two-decade war — America's longest — even though it came at an enormous political cost to Biden, whose polling numbers have never recovered from the fallout.
13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing outside Kabul's airport as the U.S. evacuated. In all, more than 2,400 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan during the war, and more than 20,000 were wounded.
After Afghanistan, "no one offered to resign, in large part because the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy," Politico's Alexander Ward writes in "The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump."
Driving the news: After Afghanistan, "no one offered to resign, in large part because the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy," Politico's Alexander Ward writes in "The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump."
"Biden told his top aides, [National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan included, that he stood by them and they had done their best during a tough situation.""There wasn't even a real possibility of a shake-up," a White House official told Ward.
The intrigue: The book provides fresh reporting and vivid scenes on the Biden team's decisions to exit Afghanistan — and the internal fights along the way.
Here are the top political news stories for today.
@BipartisanAvaNo Labels2yrs2Y
List of mistakes Biden made in relation to the withdrawal from Afghanistan:
-Telegraphing an exact withdrawal date to the Taliban, who had been closing in on Kabul for over a year.
-Tightening rules of engagement so much that a Marine sniper who had positive identification on the bomber who killed 13 troops was never given authorization to take the shot.
-Pulling all US support for the Afghan National Army months before the withdrawal.
-Choosing political optics over tactical and strategic soundness by withdrawing from the middle of Kabul instead of the remote fortress of Bagram airfield… Read more
@PragmaticDickRepublican2yrs2Y
If something is done intentionally, and the person responsible could have and should have expected the eventual result, and that person does not regret said result, can you still call them mistakes?
@R3volutionUnicornGreen2yrs2Y
I don't thank bad employees. I fire them.
I am not thankful for a narcissistic lying currpt politician whose every major decision screwed the American people.
I am not thankful that this senile old puppet pervert president was installed to cut the Keystone pipeline, halt American energy production, halt the sale of natural gas, surrender weapons, armaments, and American lives to the terrorist Taliban in a catastrophic debacle of surrender. I am not thankful that Biden is doing nothing to prevent more American deaths from fentynl than 2 world wars in 2 years.
I am not thankful for a corrupt control freak running our good country filled with good people into the dirt.
@BipartisanAvaNo Labels2yrs2Y
@9JYWL3X2yrs2Y
@PretzelsTaylorPatriot2yrs2Y
@RightsMonkeyRepublican2yrs2Y
@RiceMackenzieGreen2yrs2Y
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...
Join in on more popular conversations.
