Afghanistan’s President has fled the country as the Tailban quickly move into Kabul. Whether it’s totally applicable or not, the images and stories now coming out of Aghanistan do seem like the chaotic images and stories from Vietnam when the United States had to flee the capitol in defeat. A firestorm of comment online and in news stories is trying to answer: who is to blame for the sad ending to the United State’s two-decades commitment to Afghanistan.
There are two certainties:
1) The images of the United States evacuation from Afghanistan will linger.
2) Just as Gerald Ford had part of his legacy being the fall of Vietnam on his watch, this will be part of Joe Biden’s historical legacy, no matter what the justifications.
On Twitter– which operates on outrage and reciminations–there’s a range of reactions. Some (not all) are on predictable partisan lines (YOUR PARTY and YOUR PRESIDENT did this!) or on war-supporting, ant-war lines. Here’s a cross section:
Blaming just Biden for the fall of #Afghanistan is like blaming just Gerald Ford for the collapse of South Vietnam. Each owned by 4 Presidents. Vietnam: JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford. Afghanistan: Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden.
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) August 15, 2021
Dear Trumpers,
Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo agreed to let 5,000 Taliban hardcore soldiers who were prisoners be released in exchange for a 3 month ceasefire.
The prisoners they released are now murdering and killing innocent people throughout Afghanistan.
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) August 15, 2021
As pro-Trump voices pivot from hailing Trump for abandoning Afghanistan to slamming Biden for abandoning Afghanistan, I remember a line from a novel about Germany in the 1930s. "Our opponents have one tremendous advantage over us: their absolute shamelessness."
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 15, 2021
Americans should be furious with the governments of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, which told us, for 20 straight years, that we were winning in Afghanistan, that the billions we were pouring into the Afghan government & military were worth it.
It was all a lie.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 15, 2021
America’s retreat in Afghanistan will not end the war. It will perpetuate it, ensuring future generations will have to continue to fight, at much higher costs. This is the result of Trump/Biden policies of weakness and retreat. pic.twitter.com/sJYdRf7hw9
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) August 15, 2021
Twitter users pointed out that Cheney failed to acknowledge her father and former Vice President Dick Cheney's role in starting the war in Afghanistan. https://t.co/k2rWt90tV0
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 15, 2021
The invasion of Afghanistan was the beginning of my political participation. I felt responsible. I do. I'm a citizen of the U.S.
This was the worst and most thoughtless, crude, way to withdraw.
We have lost even the possibility of human values.
Don't call us decent. https://t.co/ZORhzvkCMx— Ann Schurman (@AnnSchurman) August 15, 2021
It is hard to stomach the master planners who have emerged from the woodwork to say they would have handled Afghanistan better when no one…no one…handled it well for 20 years, when we spent $1 trillion dollars and thousands of lives to cover the asses of misguided leaders.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 15, 2021
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani leaves Afghanistan in face of Taliban advance on Kabul, a sign the government has collapsed https://t.co/vy4VlkVsj2
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 15, 2021
Biden obviously deserves blame for actually going through with this withdrawal. But if you supported Trump and embraced his worldview, don’t go suddenly blaming Biden for Afghanistan. You own this, too.
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) August 15, 2021
I understand but disagree with those who felt we should leave Afghanistan; I cannot understand why it has been done with such tragic human cost; without an effective strategy to defend our partners; and with inestimable shock to our nation’s credibility, reliability, and honor.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 14, 2021
Where was your outrage when Trump made the deal to do this back when he was in office ? Trump thought the Taliban and him were great friends.
— Robbin ¯\_(?)_/¯ DOUBLE VACCINATED ??& proud! (@RaeMargaret61) August 14, 2021
Biden’s desertion of Afghanistan will be his Vietnam – a self-inflicted wound of disastrous proportions. Incredible, and utterly shameful, that the most ‘woke’ US President in history has left millions of women to the merciless murderous clutches of the world’s worst misogynists.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 15, 2021
Afghanistan. Trillions of dollars spent. Thousands of lives lost. And the US exit with the Taliban takeover looks like the same tribal reality where it started. What was it all for?
— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) August 15, 2021
Taliban captured Afghanistan gracefully and peacefully : CNN and NDTV https://t.co/WYT0cXcn0L
— desi mojito ?? (@desimojito) August 15, 2021
One of the most stunning guerrilla campaigns in history reached Afghanistan’s capital Sunday, forcing the president to flee as countries rushed troops to the airport to evacuate their citizens.
Welcome back from vacation to me. @paulmcleary @alexbward https://t.co/6byaz2OQl0
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) August 15, 2021
I think Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was the correct one.
But the execution has been an unmitigated disaster.
Poor intelligence. Next to zero planning. No coordination with allies. Horrible comms strategy.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) August 15, 2021
If you can’t read all of this brilliant thread, internalize this key Afghanistan fact: Biden is the only president out of four who finally worked up the courage to get out of that hopeless quagmire. There’s no need to pile new lies on top of old ones: This was a 20-year mistake. https://t.co/xwDzTeZhuE
— Charles T. White (@charlie_white) August 15, 2021
Lots of blame to go around for Afghanistan on the US side. Trump made a terrible deal with the Taliban, effectively promising them the country and empowering them. But Biden then implemented the deal, so the buck stops with him.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) August 15, 2021
Blaming Biden for Afghanistan is like blaming him for Covid-19. It’s a disaster he inherited, and to get us out of it was always going to be difficult and heartbreaking. Critics will point fingers over mistakes made in that process, but we should remember how it all started.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 15, 2021
1979-1989 USA helped Afghanistan defeat Soviet Union
2001 Dick Cheney & W took USA into Afghanistan War
2008 Obama wanted USA out, McCain wanted to remain
2012 Both Romney & Obama: USA out
2016 Both Trump & Hillary: USA out
2020 Both Trump & Biden: USA out
Don't blame DEMs pic.twitter.com/yNEAzRLps6
— Tomi T Ahonen (@tomiahonen) August 15, 2021
The Taliban has taken over all of Afghanistan less than a month after Joe Biden told us all it was impossible. pic.twitter.com/TQJUzKWRtE
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 15, 2021
What’s happening now in Afghanistan is proof that the 20 year war was fatally-flawed. Joe Biden deserves credit for finally ending it. This? is one of the best & most honest threads about Afghanistan & the Taliban that you’ll ever read. Please read it.? https://t.co/Cc6LHOREg9
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 15, 2021
Photo 138242275 / Blame © Feng Yu | Dreamstime.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.