Did Biden Even Think About the Taliban?

After President Biden ordered U.S. citizens and troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the region resulting in complete chaos. Thousands of Afghans went straight to the airport in a desperate attempt to vacate their own country as soon as possible. Afghans went as far as holding on for dear life to the side of a U.S. military plane in an attempt to escape the region, some even killed while doing so. Afghan citizens are in desperation mode as a corrupt and brutal militia is taking over their country.

Taliban Spokesman Mohammad Naeem declared victory and gloated over this 20-year long war:

"Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen [Taliban]. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years. Thanks to God, the war is over in the country."

ACLJ Chief Counsel and my father Jay Sekulow described how heartbreaking it is to watch these people fleeing the country when the Taliban is taking over:

"The tragedy of course is, look who has been impacted – the Afghan soldiers that fought along on our teams, the translators. The women and girls are going to be treated horribly. One of the things I am so distressed over in this situation is the fact that while I think the consensus was this kind of conditioned withdrawal out of Afghanistan, that the Biden Administration just went on full tilt without any real thought. It’s hard to believe the generals allowed this, of course if the Commander in Chief says it, they have to do it. . . . But this was a total miscalculation which could have and is having serious consequences."

This miscalculation has created tragedy and desperation in the region. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell discussed how the Biden Administration clearly picked the wrong route to take:

"Let’s be very clear, President Trump wanted a conditions-based withdrawal. And some of those conditions were not met. And President Trump would have adjusted the policy if in real time you’re monitoring the conditions that you put in place. What President Biden has done is change that policy, and he got rid of all of the conditions-based withdrawal policies. So, what we’ve seen from the Biden team is no conditions put on the Taliban or on the government of Afghanistan in order to get the U.S. troops out. And I think therein lies the disastrous failure."

Ric Grenell was the former Acting Director of National Intelligence during the Trump Administration. He explains what should be investigated and the intelligence community’s involvement in this decision:

"First of all, the current Director of National Intelligence April Haines has a lot of questions to answer because her boss, Joe Biden, just threw the entire intelligence community under the bus. He blamed them for not warning him. I think the question should be asked, what does April Haines think? Did the intelligence team warn President Biden about what could happen? Or were they wrong? Because either way we need to have some sort of transparency."

ACLJ Senior Military Analyst Wes Smith summed it up best with what happened in this situation:

"It’s very sad. The pictures and the stories coming out of there; the chaos is really tragic. But basically, the chaos and dramatic tragedy that is going on at this moment is part of the total mismanagement by the Biden Administration, and I’ll be honest, by the leadership of the Pentagon. Some of the Administration are trying to blame the intelligence community - this was not an intelligence failure. It was a failure by thinking that the Taliban were a true negotiation partner and to not use U.S. capabilities to check the chaos there. How did it end up this way? There are so many reasons. It’s a product of a corrupt and inept government financed and propped up and combined with an Afghan military. . . . They did not exhibit courage on the battlefield. They did not have the will to fight and defend their own country. . . . Then you have a fatalistic Afghan people at large who accepted the Taliban either as a given or they had sympathy for the Taliban. So, it was chaos to begin with and it is worse chaos now. And the bottom line is we should have declared victory and left when Osama Bin Laden was killed because by then Al Qaeda was decimated."

We have to seriously look at the mistakes made in the past 20 years. We do not want to repeat history and create more damage than there already is. We are so proud of the U.S. military for the work they did in Afghanistan and the missions that they certainly accomplished.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan.