OPINION:
America has always been the good guy. America is the country of charity, the nation of aid and assistance, the people who fight the good fight, ride the white horse, help the helpless. Give us your tired, your poor — we tell the world. Let our beacon be your guidepost to freedom — we tell the downtrodden.
But now, thanks to this White House, America’s wearing a coat of shame called betrayal.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed by terrorists at Kabul airport, needlessly.
Thousands of Americans have been stranded in a country rapidly descending into civil war, needlessly.
Thousands of Afghan allies to America have been abandoned to the vengeful hunts of Taliban members, needlessly.
Who knows how many Afghan women and girls have been — overnight — stripped of their freedoms, stripped of their dreams, subjected to beatings, rapes, murders and forced marriages at the hands of the Taliban. Again, needlessly.
Why couldn’t commander-in-chief Biden order the evacuation of these poor souls before pulling out U.S. troops, as a means of ensuring their safety? As a means of honoring promises made? America’s allies want to know. Why couldn’t have commander-in-chief Biden maintained a protective U.S. presence at Bagram, instead of pulling out military troops in early July, in the dead of night, in secret cover of darkness — in anticipation of the need to use this key airport for the final evacuation?
Monday-morning quarterbacking is never completely fair.
But screwing over citizens and friends and allies and innocents who were promised this, but instead got that, is never good politics. More than that, it’s never good morals.
Biden’s hasty, chaotic exodus from Afghanistan has left the country in upheaval; has left scores of people dead, injured, scrambling to find shelter and safety, and in states of horrific uncertainty; has left America’s allies in righteously outraged shock at the suddenness of it all and failures of this administration to inform; has left the terrorist element in Afghanistan and around the world emboldened to join forces and expand their terrorist ways; has opened doors for America’s enemies to swoop to capitalize on this White House’s weakness; and has guaranteed that the already delicate dance of foreign affairs will grow even more complex, more dangerous, more complicated — for America and American allies — for years, possibly decades, to come.
But more than that, this White House’s feckless evacuation and this president’s continued reluctance to admit failures only shows on both domestic and world stages as morally reprehensible. Who cuts and runs without taking care of the ones who were promised care? Only cowards; only immoral cowards.
America’s exceptionalism was always rooted in the idea that God was in control and that government only existed to preserve that chain of leadership. It’s a compass that relied on the virtuous and principled leadership of those selected by voters to lead. It’s a compass that demanded disciplined adherence to a moral code of conduct that was shaped from above, fashioned from Judeo-Christian teachings, taken from biblically-based truths.
Biden is not that man.
And sadly, in the eyes of the world, America is no longer that country. We’ve lost our moral standing. We’ve wandered from our Founding Fathers’ ways. We’ve tripped away from God and taken matters into our own secular hands; formed decisions from our own secular minds. It’s going to take a national revival to win back the high road.
It’s going to take acknowledgment — that is, confession — of our wayward ways, followed by repentance and prayer and sincere seeking of godly guidance. This is not trite. It’s really the only means to cure what ails our political world.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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