Biden spin misses cost of retreat
It would be hard to imagine a more dishonest distortion of reality than Joe Biden’s self-satisfied spin in his address to the American people on Wednesday (AEST) marking the departure of the last US forces from Afghanistan. “The war in Afghanistan is now over,” Mr Biden declared in seeking to justify the shambolic rush for the exits from America’s longest war. “It was time to end this war.” Doubtless that is a view Mr Biden will express when he speaks with Scott Morrison in coming days. The US President’s strategic thinking post-Afghanistan is of vital significance to the ANZUS alliance, the 70th anniversary of which was celebrated at a gathering attended by John Howard and Julia Gillard in Sydney on Wednesday.
But as much as Mr Biden may want to spin the retreat from Kabul as an achievement, he cannot escape the reality that he has handed the ragtag Taliban terrorists a mighty victory that is resonating with delighted jihadists the world over. Islamist terrorism in its darkest, most evil form is back in full control of the country that spawned the 9/11 attacks. Afghanistan is on track again to become a stronghold for Islamist militants from al-Qa’ida, Islamic State offshoot ISIS-K and the murderous Haqqani network, part of the Taliban. And the prospect of war in Afghanistan being over is fanciful. The Wall Street Journal has described August 31, the deadline Mr Biden set to complete the withdrawal, as a “a day that will live in infamy … a shameful day in American history, no matter how much the White House wants to spin it otherwise”. It would be hard to argue with that conclusion.
Yet it could all have been otherwise; it did not have to end up in the ignominious defeat that it was for the US and coalition forces. Mr Biden claimed he was hamstrung, after entering the Oval Office, by the politically driven deal done by Donald Trump with the Taliban that set a May 1 deadline for all US and coalition forces to be out. Mr Biden maintains the die was cast and he could not countermand it. His spin obscures the reality. On taking office, Mr Biden signed scores of executive orders that unilaterally overturned many of Mr Trump’s key policies. He had the power to do the same over what was undoubtedly Mr Trump’s rotten deal with the Taliban. (Mr Trump, incredibly, had been intent on inviting Taliban leaders to Camp David before he was persuaded it was a bad idea.) Yet Mr Biden did nothing.
He rejected strong military advice to keep a force of US troops in Afghanistan and went ahead with the withdrawal, first extending it absurdly to the anniversary of 9/11, then settling on August 31. He argues now that he was surprised by the speed of the Afghan government’s collapse. Yet he contributed significantly to the eclipse of the Afghan military by failing to provide air cover to meet the Taliban advance. He abandoned the vital Bagram air base without good reason and appeared deaf to warnings about the strength of the Taliban’s assault.
Numerous media reports have revealed the Biden White House was woefully ill-informed and preparing for summer vacations when Kabul fell. The US military had to scramble to organise the airlift that Mr Biden now claims to have been such a stellar success. Beyond Mr Biden’s spin, the evidence is mostly of embarrassing ineptitude and mishandling of a grave crisis by his administration. He faces enormous challenges after the ignominy of Kabul. His conversation with the Prime Minister will be an opportunity to assure Australia as a major ally in the Indo-Pacific that American leadership remains firmly committed to the fight for freedom and democracy.
After the debacle, Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and now Afghanistan’s terrorists are all likely to be preparing to test Mr Biden, who has a theoretical 3½ years left of his term in the White House. With Mr Howard and Ms Gillard uniting to demonstrate the strength of bipartisan support that exists in Australia, the importance of the ANZUS alliance in helping meet those looming challenges cannot be overstated.