Nothing defines the disastrous Biden presidency more than the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. It’s been two years since that watershed moment, which sent Joe Biden’s approval ratings underwater for the first time in his presidency, and that’s where they have remained ever since.
Biden, desperate for a 9/11 anniversary photo op, ignored the advice of his military advisors and lied about the situation on the ground in order to push ahead with a withdrawal that quickly descended into chaos, left 13 U.S. service members dead, and resulted in the government falling, the Taliban taking over, and billions in military equipment and weapons abandoned.
Biden and his administration have repeatedly insisted that they wouldn’t have done anything differently, doubling down every opportunity they get on the absurd claim that the withdrawal was a success, even though countless Americans were left behind when U.S. forces left.
How many exactly did the administration leave behind? An exact number isn’t quite clear because the Biden administration desperately tried to cover up the truth. Biden knew that there were still hundreds — maybe even thousands — of Americans stuck in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, yet his administration assured the American people otherwise.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken even told Congress that “there were only 100 American citizens left in Afghanistan who wanted to leave.” However, the number of Americans evacuated after the withdrawal grew in the subsequent months, well above that initial 100 number.
Flashback: The Biden Admin Considers Afghanistan Withdrawal a Success. For Real.
Months after the withdrawal, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report showing that as many as 9,000 Americans were left behind in Afghanistan, and a House Foreign Affairs Committee investigation a year after the withdrawal put the number closer to 1,000. Whatever the real number, this wasn’t a case of incompetence. The Biden administration didn’t suddenly find thousands of previously unknown Americans still in the Taliban-controlled country. It knew. And now members of the administration are bragging about it.
On the second anniversary of the botched withdrawal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken actually bragged about the withdrawal, and how “virtually all of the Americans citizens” wanted to leave the country.
“As you know, we brought back virtually all of the American citizens who said they wanted to depart in the course of the withdrawal, and that effort continued well after and continues to this day. And I believe some 900 or so additional American citizens, who told us at one point or another that they wanted to leave, we’ve made sure to get home,” Blinken said in remarks marking the anniversary.
Imagine thinking that bringing home “virtually all” Americans — which is still debatable — is considered a talking point, instead of bringing home all Americans. That’s the Biden administration for you.
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