In a recent interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, President Joe Biden’s incoherence gives cause for concern.
President Biden did not immediately return to the White House from his vacation when the crisis in Afghanistan began. When he did return, he made no public appearances for several days.
On August 11, Biden read a brief speech at the White House from a teleprompter, answering no questions after. He then returned to Camp David. A few days later, while still at Camp David the president gave another brief speech concerning covid vaccine boosters. Once again he read his speech from a teleprompter, again and answered no questions after.
While the president can perform his duties from anywhere including Camp David and his own home, it is highly unusual considering the current situation in Afghanistan.
According to White House public records, the president has had only two conversations with foreign leaders since August 1st, one with Boris Johnson and the other with Angel Merkel.
The president did have an on-camera interview with ABC George NEWS’ George Stephanopoulos although his answers did not inspire confidence in him. The president appeared somewhat angry when answering some of the questions.
Biden started the interview claiming that his intelligence committee had given him unclear and unreasonably optimistic information concerning the state of the Afghan military and government.
Right off the bat, there is no way to reconcile Biden’s comments during the interview with his July 8 declaration that the intelligence community had not stated that the Afghan government would likely collapse:
During the interview, the president insisted that he himself had actually predicted the collapse of the Afghan government by the end of the year.
Either Biden does not recall what he said on July 8, or he is trying to make everyone believe that he did warn of the Afghan government falling.
Former CIA counterterrorism chief and former member of Biden’s counterterrorism working group, Douglas London, wrote that the president is lying: “Ultimately, it was assessed, Afghan forces might capitulate within days under the circumstances we witnessed, in projections highlighted to Trump officials and future Biden officials alike.”
Biden not only avoided questions during the interview, but his answers made little sense:
Stephanopoulos stated during the interview, “We’ve all seen the pictures. We’ve seen those hundreds of people packed in a C-17. We’ve seen Afghans falling.”
“That was four days ago, five days ago!” Biden interjected when it in fact had been only 2 days ago. What is particularly odd is that Biden reacted as if Stephanopoulos was referring to irrelevant ancient history.
Why was Biden so upset about him asking about the horrifying images?
Maybe more unsettling was the president’s insistence that nothing could have been done differently, and the nightmare could not have been prevented.
“So you don’t think this could have been handled–this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?” Stephanopoulos inquired of Biden.
“No, I don’t think it could have been handled in a way that, we’re gonna go back in hindsight and look–but the idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens. I don’t know how that happened,” Biden answered.
On July 8 Biden assured the whole country that a Taliban takeover was not inevitable, yet now he insists that it was inevitable.
Biden also stated in July, “I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re—–more competent in terms of conducting war” and ” the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.”
During the interview with Stephanopoulos, Biden maintained that contrary to published reports, his military advisers had not recommended keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
The Wall Street Journal and other publications reported, “The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the sized he inherited while seeking a peace agreement between warring Afghan factions, to help maintain stability. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said a full withdrawal wouldn’t provide any insurance against instability.” These statements could be declassified for verification.
What’s actually true? The president was warned. The president was not warned. The president cannot recall being warned.
Biden rarely appears on camera or takes questions, could it be because when he does he causes himself more damage? All available evidence points to the president ignoring the warnings of his foreign-policy team and withdrawing armed forces before evacuating civilians. He gave up the Bagram Air Base and is now in a major foreign crisis that was largely the result of his own choices.
