America is diminished, our enemies are emboldened, our allies are dismayed, and Joe Biden's crappy policy decisions are to blame.
Joe Biden has made a mess in Afghanistan. The optics of the Taliban parading about in billions of dollars of US equipment is awful, but the fate of the Afghan people under the theocratic, repressive rule of a band of 7th century cave dwellers is even worse.
The Biden Administration has claimed that this fiasco was a resounding success, and that they planned out every contingency. 
Recent leaks and revelations make it obvious that is a lie.
There were always only a few ways that our withdrawal could have played out. Each of those scenarios have a few obvious requirements.
The US withdraws and the Taliban loses to the ANA: This would require extensive use of aircraft for transport and close air support, as well as drones and other advanced technology. This outcome looked unlikely in the spring of 2021 as the Taliban was on the move, capturing several provincial capitals and winning a number of battles. Joe Biden destroyed any chance of this scenario when he abruptly withdrew US forces from Bagram and then cut off access to civilian contractors that maintain all the equipment. This scenario was unlikely, and Joe made it impossible with his denial of support.
The US withdraws, and the Taliban wins slowly: This was the most likely scenario, but only the ANA had air support and technical assistance to survive the summer offensive. The abrupt withdrawal in the middle of the fighting season, as opposed to waiting until winter when the Taliban can’t operate effectively, doomed the country to collapse.
Quick Collapse and Chaos: The Biden administration claims they had no idea this would happen, and also that they knew this would happen and planned for this scenario. It turns out that Joe knew in May that the Taliban was winning. He told the Afghan President to ‘change the perception’ that he was losing so Joe could move ahead with his plans to abandon the country to the Taliban. It became clear in the ensuring chaos that the Biden administration screwed this up in many ways, not the least of which is giving up Bagram Airbase, the one strategic asset that would have allowed a safe and organized withdrawal.
In summary, Joe knew that the Taliban was on the move. He banned civilian contractors from supporting the ANA, and he gave up strategic positions without conferring with the Afghans, and then ordered full retreat without conferring with our allies.
In the end, he turned the country over to the Taliban, gifted them billions in military equipment, and left hundreds of Americans behind.
Is this raw incompetence? Was this entirely motivated by political considerations like the 20th anniversary of 9/11, or getting it over with before the midterm elections?
Bad Policy? Or Impeachable Malfeasance?
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