Why Joe Biden’s Afghanistan speech was a disaster

President Joe Biden addressed the nation on the unfolding tragedy in Afghanistan. He was unrepentant. “I Do Not Regret My Decision,” he declared.

His speech did little to resolve the concerns a bipartisan array of Americans have for two reasons: First, he relied on a dishonest strawman and, second, the Afghan withdrawal contradicts the reasons he cited to justify his policy.

First, the strawman: “I cannot and will not ask our troops to fight on endlessly in another country’s civil war,” he declared.

But, no one was asking that, and it is not what American troops were doing.

Over the past five years, the Pentagon had reduced the American presence to under 10,000 troops. The presence was a deterrent and led to few American casualties.

Indeed, over that period, far fewer Americans have died in Afghanistan than residents of Baltimore have died in automobile accidents. …

If Americans are tired of defending Afghanistan as Biden claims, should Beijing believe they will stand up to defend Taiwan? By enabling China to advance its interests in Afghanistan, Biden is also enables it to cut-off India and other American allies from Central Asia.

Simply put, If Biden considers surrendering Afghanistan to the Taliban to be a forward-looking strategy as his speech implies, then the worst is yet to come. Biden’s incompetence now risks the entire post-World War II liberal order.  God help the United States