Disbelief and betrayal: Europe reacts to Biden’s Afghanistan ‘miscalculation’

[Hoodat]

Disbelief and betrayal: Europe reacts to Biden’s Afghanistan ‘miscalculation’

‘This does fundamental damage to the political and moral credibility of the West,’ says senior German lawmaker.

MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG   |   August 17, 2021 1:23 am

BERLIN — Until Sunday, Europe thought Joe Biden was an expert on foreign policy.

Now, the American president’s decision to allow Afghanistan to collapse into the arms of the Taliban has European officials worried he has unwittingly accelerated what his predecessor Donald Trump started: the degradation of the Western alliance and everything it is supposed to stand for in the world.

Across Europe, officials have reacted with a mix of disbelief and a sense of betrayal. Even those who cheered Biden’s election and believed he could ease the recent tensions in the transatlantic relationship said they regarded the withdrawal from Afghanistan as nothing short of a mistake of historic magnitude.

“I say this with a heavy heart and with horror over what is happening, but the early withdrawal was a serious and far-reaching miscalculation by the current administration,” said Norbert Röttgen, chairman of the German parliament’s foreign relations committee. “This does fundamental damage to the political and moral credibility of the West.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-reacts-bidens-afghanistan-withdrawal/


For all of you who were optimistic about Biden's foreign policy expertise, I challenge you to come up with a single instance where Biden made the right call.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The Europeans will step in as America stepped away.

Those countries will not leave their countrymen stranded high and dry.

[skeeter]

Oh they’ll come around when grandpa badfinger resumes waving infrastructure dollars in their faces.

[dfwgator]

But hey, no more mean Tweets. 

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Breaking: British Para Troops Are Running Vehicle Patrols Through Center of Kabul to Extract Trapped UK Citizens — While Biden Abandons Trapped Americans

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/08/breaking-british-para-troops-running-vehicle-patrols-center-kabul-extract-trapped-uk-citizens-biden-abandons-trapped-americans/

The Brits will go where Biden refuses to go

[mountaineer]

Sad. When you've lost Angela ...

Germany Calls Biden’s Afghanistan Pull-Out the “Biggest Debacle” for NATO
U.S. allies “embittered,” as rogue states and terrorist groups cheer Taliban victory.
Posted by Vijeta Uniyal
Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 11:00am

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her government condemned the Biden administration’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan in harsh terms.

The debacle in Afghanistan was “an extremely bitter development. Bitter, dramatic and terrifying,” Chancellor Merkel said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

In her sharpest attack on Biden’s decision yet, the German chancellor suggested that the Biden administration’s hasty and messy withdrawal was motivated by “domestic political reasons” rather than geostrategic necessities.  ...

The head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic party (CDU) and chancellor candidate in the next month’s general election, Armin Laschet, had even harsher words for Biden’s failure in Afghanistan. “It’s the biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its creation and it’s a change of era that we are confronted with,” he said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier saw the Biden administration-led pullout as “shameful.” ...

Full story at Legal Insurrection

[Hoodat]

Sad. When you've lost Angela ...

Germany Calls Biden’s Afghanistan Pull-Out the “Biggest Debacle” for NATO

Full story at Legal Insurrection

This brings up another point.  We basically bailed on our NATO allies.  We have an obligation by treaty to support NATO members, just as they were supporting us.  But we abandoned them on the field of battle.  We surrendered an air base that other NATO members relied upon.  And we have sent an unmistakable message to every NATO member that the United States cannot be relied upon to uphold its obligations in defense of fellow member states.

[jafo2010]

The USA proved long ago we were not reliable.   Heck, we abandoned our own in Benghazi.  Four men died, including the ambassador who repeatedly asked for help and got the middle finger from HR Clinton.  That number could have been much higher if not for the bravery of a handful of men.

Europe should be getting ready to bend over for the Biden plunge, for he will screw them too.  The man is a total idiot, and whoever controls his strings, has complete control.

[Fishrrman]

From the article:
"BERLIN — Until Sunday, Europe thought Joe Biden was an expert on foreign policy."

This tells me all I need to know about those who are "running foreign policy" in Western Europe...

[dfwgator]

From the article:
"BERLIN — Until Sunday, Europe thought Joe Biden was an expert on foreign policy."

This tells me all I need to know about those who are "running foreign policy" in Western Europe...

Maybe a bit outdated by now, but the point still stands: