When Bob Gates famously said that Joe Biden has been "been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades" he was obviously thinking of Afghanistan.

And now that Biden is pulling out all U.S. troops, to neatly match that 9/11 20-year date and giving the Taliban a heads-up, it's getting obvious to everyone:

According to the Financial Times:

The Taliban have captured at least two provincial capitals and besieged several more across Afghanistan, making the most significant advances yet in their revived campaign for control of the country as the US and UK warn their citizens to leave.

The U.S. is reduced to doing this:

The United States was sending B-52 bombers, AC-130 gunships and fighter jets into Afghanistan Saturday to turn back dramatic recent advances by the Taliban.

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers, the mainstay of American strategic airpower since 1952, were flying into Afghanistan from al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, The Times of London reported, citing Defense Department sources.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, stationed in the Arabian Sea, is contributing its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets to the missions, but they are not involved in the bombing, the report states. Lockheed AC-130 Spectre attack planes, dubbed “the world’s deadliest gunship,” have also been sent into action.

So, rather than have a base or bases to fight from, the U.S. is reduced to fighting from the outside. Which amounts to a strategic disadvantage, given that 'location, location, location' is as important to winning wars as it is to real estate sales.

But Biden's idea of 'winning' is pulling out, 1960s-style, handing the Taliban a convenient schedule so they could do their planning. Not even President Trump, who abhorred overseas entanglements, did that. What Biden is ending is something Trump left in place.

And now we have what was entirely predictable, a Saigon-style pullout. The Taliban made its move to take over and is on a blitzkreig to get it all done quickly. 

Did Biden have any sort of plan here with his proud and noisy vow to pull out, or is the military now improvising? Was there a strategy, other than to make America look bad and set the stage for China to reign supreme?  It sure looks all of that and done with two hands tied behind its back. Our enemies are watching, but no problem to Old Joe.

Image: Picryl / U.S. National Archives / public domain

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