A disgraceful departure from Afghanistan

I don’t pretend to be an expert on foreign affairs, but anyone with an 8th grade education knows that the United States has lost its credibility as an astute and compassionate nation when it comes to plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
    No one, and I mean no one, is questioning whether the United States should get out of this 20-year war that started after 9-11. Polls have indicated withdrawal is what Americans want.
    But it is the execution of that plan to withdraw that has even those of us who don’t like following foreign affairs—and who think we need to pay more attention to our homeland—up in arms with anger and questions.        
    It is all on the Biden Administration, which seems, at times, to not have a clue to what’s going on.
        It almost seems like President Biden woke up a couple weeks ago and said, “Hey, guys, let’s start our departure from Afghanistan,” with no strategic plan to do so. And no contingency plan.
        It is nothing but disgraceful, and something from which our country may never recover.
        You’ve heard all the questions, like why did we abandon our military airport there first and withdraw troops before Americans were out? Did the State Department, in fact, know how many Americans they’d need to evacuate, and secondly, how many Afghans who helped our military the past two decades would want to leave? Why did Biden set an unreachable Aug. 31 deadline for evacuating them?
    A real tell-tale example of what’s important to Biden and his team happened Monday when Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki bristled during a reporter’s use of the word “stranded” when referring to those likely to be left behind.
    Psaki called out the reporter for even using the word “stranded,” saying that’s not what is happening in Afghanistan, that they are bringing every American home who wants to come home. It kind of sounds like his team’s objection to the use of “crisis” when referring to the immigration fiasco at our southern border.
    Actions speak louder than words. They would not have conducted this withdrawal as they are had they wanted everyone to get out.
    Anyone with any military experience has stated there is no way that will happen by Aug. 31. Why was that date set anyway?
    We all know why—Biden wanted to be the President who finally withdrew our troops from that war-torn country by the 20th anniversary of 9-11 in a few short weeks. That is obvious in the way this departure was planned and executed. It was all about his legacy.
    Remembrances on this year’s 9-11 unfortunately will likely be even more somber than the past ones because there will be more dead people, likely more Americans than the 3,000 who were killed 20 years ago, and, again, at the hands of the Taliban.
    It didn’t have to end this way.