Even Media Reports Show The Biden Administration Completely Botched The Afghanistan Draw-Down
That the decrepit state of planning in the leadup to a known and announced withdrawal deadline persists so late in the game is unforgivable.
By Jason Killmeyer
August 16, 2021
As the Biden administration set a specific date for the departure of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan earlier this year, some curious phrases stood out in media reports. Those phrases, constituting a pattern, never really took center stage in the dominant narrative. However, together they painted a picture that last week was painfully revealed.
The Biden administration miserably failed to plan for a post-withdrawal Afghanistan. That can be true, and it can also be true that staying longer with the same posture would not have yielded better long-term prospects for the Afghans once we left. It can also be true that alarming headlines were unavoidable; they are the natural accompaniment to military retreat.
But back in June and July, and even earlier, it was clear that the planning for our post-withdrawal counterterrorism mission was immature. Basics of the scope and scale of our air support to the Afghan government? Even more immature.
Let’s review some of the reporting from that time period, keeping in mind this is coverage from publications no one would consider hostile to the administration.
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https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/16/even-media-reports-show-the-biden-administration-completely-botched-the-afghanistan-draw-down/
