OPINION:
It is commonly accepted - even by the liberal media - that the U.S. exit from Afghanistan was a disaster. Hundreds of Americans were left behind. Thousands of cooperative Afghani partners were abandoned, many likely to be killed by the ruthless Taliban. No one on planet earth points to the American withdrawal as an example of strength or diplomatic precision. The opinion on this is virtually unanimous.
One source of disagreement however has been who is to blame. Did President Biden get bad advice from experts or did he simply ignore the advice he got? We now have a definitive answer, and it may drive the sitting President from office.
Keep in mind that then-Vice President Joe Biden’s recommendation to President Obama in May of 2011 was not to go after Osama bin Laden. Despite all Presidential military advisers recommending sending in a Navy Seal team to get bin Laden and despite the fact other members of Obama’s inner circle agreed, Joe Biden said no. Biden’s opinion was ignored and the world’s number one terrorist was ultimately subdued.
In 2021 however, President Biden gets the last word. There is no option to ignore his opinion. As he was sworn into office, the President’s top military brass was putting together their assessment of how to handle America’s negotiated withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. military on the ground in Afghanistan provided information on various scenarios, the likelihood of each happening, and how the U.S. should proceed to ensure the most desired outcome.
What followed in the summer of 2021 was that President Joe Biden withdrew all troops from Afghanistan in a disastrous manner. In July Mr. Biden took to the Presidential podium and assured the media and the American public the Taliban posed little threat. The Afghan forces far outnumbered the Taliban, he said. It was possible that the Taliban could take over a town or two within six months, but there was little danger of more. When asked directly if the United States could end up with a humiliating Saigon-style exit, Mr. Biden was visibly irritated. “The Taliban is not the South, the North Vietnamese army. They’re not—they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you’re going to see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy” in Afghanistan.
Just weeks later the Taliban swarmed through all of Afghanistan, taking town after town, and the Biden administration found itself airlifting U.S. staff off the American Embassy roof. It then surrendered the embassy itself to the Taliban. Mr. Biden left thousands of US nationals and partners behind during the exit. At one point Biden’s team was actually asking permission of the Taliban to fly our own people out. The humiliation was complete.
How could President Biden have been so completely wrong in his assessment of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and how could the withdrawal have been executed so poorly? Did the President get bad advice?
In the midst of the Afghanistan chaos, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News conducted a one on one interview with the President. He asked Mr. Biden if his military advisors had recommended he keep 2500 American troops there for stability during the withdrawal. Mr. Biden’s response? “No. No one said that to me that I can recall.”
In testimony before the United States Senate, however, General Mark Miller, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he had recommended President Biden keep 2500 troops in Afghanistan. There was nothing ambiguous about the statement. The recommendation was clear. The reasons had been outlined. The number of troops specified. Ultimately the advice was ignored.
Remember, Mr. Biden told ABC News, “No one said that to me that I can recall.”
Did President Biden lie or did he literally not recall? In this post-Trump era, lying to the American public is clearly an impeachable offense. If Mr. Biden lied, hearings should be scheduled in the U.S. House immediately and he should be impeached. A Senate trial must follow. There is no wiggle room. There is no excuse for lying simply because it may have been politically expedient. Based on the sworn testimony of General Milley, it seems clear that Mr. Biden would be impeached and eventually convicted.
Wait, you say. Mr. Biden’s statement was that there was no such recommendation from his military advisers “that I can recall.” Perhaps he simply forgot.
That possibility is even more alarming. Critics often claim Mr. Biden is suffering from diminished mental capacity. If the President doesn’t remember the advice given to him by the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding the most significant military operation of his Presidency he clearly is not qualified to carry out the duties of his office. That reality leaves no option other than to remove Mr. Biden.
If any President is found to be incapable of performing the duties and responsibilities that come with the presidency, the 25th Amendment outlines a very specific procedure to remove the President. It involves action by the Vice President and a majority of the President’s cabinet. It has never before been invoked, but it appears the time has come.
If Mr. Biden blatantly lied, it is an impeachable offense. If he is incapable of retaining advice from his top advisers, he cannot perform the duties of the office. His statement to George Stephanopoulos leaves little doubt that it must be either one or the other. Either way, Mr. Biden has paved the way for his own removal.
He should be removed, not because of his politics or his opinions. He must be removed because a mentally diminished commander in chief endangers us all. There is no shame in an elderly man losing some of his mental acuity. There would be a great shame and more than a little peril if those around him on a daily basis ignore the obvious. His time in office should be closed out immediately. The fate of a nation depends on it.
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