WASHINGTON – President Biden overestimated his own competence in foreign affairs before Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban, making unhelpful and impractical proposals while exhibiting an “arrogant confidence in himself” that left his administration unprepared for the devastating chaos of displacement Kabul, according to the upcoming book.
In “The Last Politician,” due out Sept. 5, and quoted by The Atlantic Tuesday, the magazine’s staff writer Franklin Foer said the 80-year-old commander-in-chief “exhibited determination, even stubbornness, despite heavy criticism from the establishment. A figure who usually he craves approval” regarding his decision to end the US presence in Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, after two decades.
“For a man who prides himself on his empathy, he can be detached, even cold, when faced with the prospect of human suffering,” Foer wrote of Biden, who was apparently caught looking at his watch while attending the dignified transfer of 13 service members killed in an ISIS suicide bombing- K at Hamid Karzai International Airport and allegedly told the mother of one of the victims that her son’s death was the same as his late son Beau’s.
“When it comes to foreign policy,” Foer added, “Joe Biden has an arrogant belief in himself.”
So strong is that belief that Biden, once described by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as “wrong on almost every major foreign policy and national security issue of the past four decades,” sees diplomats and seasoned experts as “risk-averse, institutionalized [and] lazy in their thinking,” according to the book.
President Biden overestimated his own competence in foreign affairs ahead of Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban according to a new book, “The Last Politician,” to be released next month.AFP via Getty Images
The president mistrusted officials who warned him not to end the war too soon, and brushed aside the concerns of the nation’s top military officials who warned of the risks of removing all US troops from Afghanistan just seven months into office.
“An aide recalled that he would say, ‘You foreign policy people, you think it’s all a bit complicated. But it’s just like a family dynamic,’” Foer wrote of Biden, adding that in his assessment of the president: “Foreign affairs are sometimes painful, often pointless, but actually emotional intelligence is used for people with hard-to-pronounce names.”
“Diplomacy, in Biden’s view, is akin to persuading a grumpy uncle to stop drinking too much,” Foer added.
Biden’s commitment to his wisdom continued through the busy evacuation mission, as he reportedly “will [then-Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass] with ideas to squeeze more evacuees through the gates” of the airport, many of which are impossible given the conditions on the ground.
“The president’s instinct is to insert himself into the ins and outs of problem solving. ‘Why don’t we have them meet in the parking lot? Can’t we leave the airport and pick them up?’” Foer wrote.
New details are emerging that President Biden is making unhelpful and impractical proposals while exhibiting an “arrogant confidence in himself” that has left his administration unprepared for the devastating chaos of the Kabul evacuation. US Air Forces Europe-Africa via Getty Images
“Bass will examine Biden’s proposed solutions with colleagues to determine their credibility, which is typically low.”
The problem with many of Biden’s proposals, in Foer’s words, is that the US “doesn’t have the troops or the will to secure Kabul.” Afghan forces have abandoned their positions in the capital without putting up any resistance, while the Americans have abandoned the larger Bagram Airport an hour north of Kabul in early July – giving the hijackers time to swipe what they can before Afghan forces take over.
Although former President Donald Trump had placed the withdrawal during his presidency with the Doha Agreement, it was Biden’s decision to honor it, according to the book — a decision that “had to be made in a sprint.”
Despite the advice of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Biden chose to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021 — the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Although he never formally complained about it, Milley did not understand the decision,” Foer wrote.
“How is it honoring the dead to admit defeat in a conflict that has been waged on their behalf?”
The president dismissed the concerns of the nation’s top military officials who warned of the risk of removing all US troops from Afghanistan just seven months into office. Courtesy Omar Haidiri/AFP via
Although Biden rejected Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s advice to keep the US military contingent in the country, he eventually agreed to change the withdrawal date to August 31, which Foer called an “implicit concession that [the White House] was mistaken” in choosing an important event as the end of the war.
But the change has only accelerated the withdrawal – even as diplomats and military officials warn of a strengthening Taliban, who will eventually topple the US-backed Afghan government on August 15, 2021, as American troops are in the middle of an evacuation mission.
As early as June 2021, national security adviser Jake Sullivan “began to worry that the Pentagon had pulled American personnel and equipment out of Afghanistan too quickly,” according to Foer.
The “rapid withdrawal” of US troops in the country – which began that May – “has allowed the Taliban to advance and win a string of victories” against the Afghan army, which “surprised the administration.”
Although former President Donald Trump had placed the withdrawal during his presidency with the Doha Agreement, it was Biden’s decision to honor it, according to the book — a decision that “had to be made in a sprint.”UGC via AP
General Frank McKenzie, then head of US Central Command, soon warned that evacuation efforts should begin sooner, filing estimates that Kabul could be “surrounded in about 30 days – a much faster collapse than previously predicted. “
But the Biden administration failed to heed McKenzie’s advice, with the State Department delaying the start of the evacuation mission “to avoid fomenting panic in Kabul” — a sentiment Foer wrote was supported by the CIA.
The withdrawal won’t be announced until mid-August, after Milley pleaded with Sullivan to push Biden to make calls with the Taliban less than 100 miles from Kabul.
“The intelligence community assumed that the Taliban would not invade Kabul until after the United States had left, because the Taliban wanted to avoid a block-by-block battle for the city,” Foer wrote.
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“But the proximity of the Taliban to the embassy and HKIA is very scary. It requires decisive action that the administration has so far resisted.”
That left diplomats with just three days to leave the US embassy, which the State Department had planned to keep open even after the last troops left.
As anxiety grows among Afghans who fear for life – and death – under the Taliban, thousands storm the airport as troop evacuation flights begin on August 16, 2021.
“America needs the Taliban to help control the crowds that have formed outside the airport — and to implement a system that allows passport and visa holders to pass through the crowd,” Foer wrote.
“But the Taliban are imperfect allies. Their checkpoints are manned by warriors from the countryside who don’t know how to deal with the various documents being waved in their faces.”
When a US Globemaster C-17 carrying supplies for the arriving US troops landed that day, the plane was “rushed by a surge of civilians.”
Overwhelmed, the crew closed the jet’s entrance and gave permission to escape, according to Foer.
As the plane took off, several Afghans clung to the outside of the plane, rising thousands of feet into the air before perishing in sickening footage broadcast around the world — most notably on social media.
In the end, the humanitarian evacuation mission that Biden had not initially intended became desperate, bringing with it the intense criticism that the president continues to try to avoid two years later.
According to Foer, “everything [Biden had] witnessed from his seat in the Situation Room confirmed his belief that getting out of a hopeless war was the best and only way.”
As for the angry reaction, Biden considered it “overheated,” reportedly telling an aide that “either the press is out of their mind, or I am.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
