My Threatcon Column: President Biden's Afghanistan Surrender To The Taliban

My Threatcon column on President Biden’s shameful surrender of Afghanistan to the terroristic and murderous Taliban was posted online at Counterterrorism magazine's website. 

You can read the column below:

 

President Biden’s Afghanistan Surrender to the Taliban 

By Paul Davis 

As I follow the news of the fall of Afghanistan, my thoughts are of the Vietnam War. 

My role in the Vietnam War was a minor one. I served as an 18-year-old seaman on the USS Kitty Hawk as the aircraft carrier performed combat operations on "Yankee Station" off the coast of North Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. 

Like most Vietnam veterans and many Americans, I felt a gut-punch when the Congress cut off funds to South Vietnam in 1975, ensuring a swift Communist victory over the South Vietnamese after America had expended so many lives and funds to hold the North Vietnamese aggressors at bay. 

Now, once again, to our shame, we are abandoning a country where we have expended many American lives and funds. In my view, the withdrawal from Afghanistan is another dark day in American history.  

Former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted famously in his memoir that Joseph Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades." 

Biden’s latest error in judgement, the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan and surrender to the terroristic and murderous Taliban, will go down in history as a colossal blunder with deadly affects. 

I suspect that a second war on terrorism will commence once again from Afghanistan. 

Kenneth R. Timmerman, a Middle East correspondent who was held prisoner in 1982 for 24 days by Fatah guerrillas in Lebanon, offers a piece at the New York Post on Biden and Afghanistan. 

“For decades, Joe Biden has touted himself as a foreign policy genius. As a United States senator, he never had to make a decision or bear responsibility for running off at the mouth. As vice-president, he was given backwaters such as Ukraine that he reportedly turned into a family piggy bank,” Kenneth R. Timmerman wrote in the New York Post. “But now he is president. He owns the utter disaster that Afghanistan has become; and the sudden about-face of the Pentagon to send 3,000 fully armed combat troops back into the fray shows that even the woke military bosses Biden installed can wake up and smell the coffee.” 

Retired four-star general and Fox News senior strategic analyst Jack Keane stated on Fox, “It's a sad, frustrating moment to watch an ill-conceived -- and I emphasize ill-conceived, hasty withdrawal -- turn into what is now an embarrassing retreat. And why is that? Well, the IG from the Pentagon just reported the Taliban offensive began in May of this year, a month after President Biden made the announcement that we were pulling all U.S. troops out by August 31. 

“The Taliban knew full well that the United States, in that short period of time, had to close seven military bases, that the focus of the U.S. leadership and its troops would be on just that. No time and no resources to help the Afghan security forces during a major Taliban offensive. And by that I mean sustained, decisive air support, which they always had in the past, to stop normal Taliban offensives that occur in that period of time.” 

Keane, perhaps the best military mind in America, noted that warfare in Afghanistan is seasonal. He said that the Taliban begins fighting in the spring and the fighting ends in the fall. 

“And the Taliban pack up their bags and go to Pakistan during the winter. So why are we doing a withdrawal right in the middle of the fighting season, in the heart of it? The withdrawal should have been done during, what? The winter. And we should have extended our withdrawal out until sometime next year to get all of that done and make certain that as the Taliban offensive came this year, we were able to provide the resources to counter that offensive.” 

In an earlier appearance on Fox, Keane warned that Al Qaeda could very well set up safe havens if the U.S. completely leaves Afghanistan. 

"Al Qaeda did the same prior to the 9-11 attack. They bombed two embassies in Africa and the U.S.S. Cole. If we had destroyed the Al Qaeda safe haven in Afghanistan, there wouldn't have been a 9-11. Safe havens are critical to the radical Islamist movement,” Keane said. “"The president mentioned it himself. The reason why we're in Syria, Iraq, Eastern Africa is to prevent those organizations, radical Islamists, from having what? A safe haven from which to attack the United States. This is a multi-generational war. That is why we're still doing that. To walk away from Afghanistan and say this is not a multi-generational conflict is to ignore the reality of what is taking place." 

Who are the Taliban? 

According to the BBC, the Taliban, or "students" in the Pashto language, emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban, once in power, introduced or supported punishments in line with their strict interpretation of Sharia law, such as public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers, and amputations for those found guilty of theft. Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the all-covering burka. 

“The Taliban also banned television, music and cinema, and disapproved of girls aged 10 and over going to school,” the BBC noted. “They were accused of various human rights and cultural abuses.” 

In closing, one should remember that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were planned in Afghanistan by bin Laden and al-Qaeda, who were protected and supported by the Taliban. 

President Bush took them out. President Biden let them back in. 

Paul Davis, a long-time contributor to the Journal writes the online Threatcon Column. 

Note: The U.S. Defense Department released the above photo.

Robert Gates' "Duty: Memoirs Of A Secretary At War"

Gary Anderson wrote a review of former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War for the Washington Times.

Some memoirs are written to explain or apologize, and some are written to settle scores. Although Robert M. Gates' “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War” settles some scores, my sense is that he wrote it to get his whole experience as secretary of defense behind him. He certainly doesn’t need to apologize. By most accounts, he is one of the best to serve as defense secretary since the post was created in the middle of the last century; he is certainly the best wartime leader we have had in the job.

Mr. Gates accepted the job from President Bush in 2006 when the war in Iraq was at its nadir and the conflict in Afghanistan was unraveling. By the time he left in 2011, Iraq was under control and Afghanistan had at least stabilized, and he dramatically improved the condition of medical care and evacuation for wounded service members. He also accomplished the near-impossible by reining in Defense Department expenditures, which had spiraled badly out of control since 2001. He did not seek the job and came increasingly to despise it. His tenure wasn’t perfect, and he owns up to his many mistakes.

What Mr. Gates obviously regrets is that the venal and self-serving nature of many in Congress and on the White House staff falls far short of the example set by our Founding Fathers and the nation’s leaders in most of our past wars.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/17/obama-did-not-believe-in-the-strategy-he-approved/

Krauthammer: Not His War - Our Ambivalent Commander

  

Charles Krauthammer's column in National Review Online looks at President Obama's leadership of the war in Afghanistan.

 

By early 2011, writes former defense secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Obama “doesn’t believe in his own [Afghanistan] strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his.”
Not his? America is at war and he’s America’s commander-in-chief. For the soldier being shot at in the field, it makes no difference under whose administration the fighting began. In fact, three out of four Americans killed in Afghanistan have died under Barack Obama’s command. That’s ownership enough.

Moreover, Gates’s doubts about Obama had begun long before. A year earlier, trying to understand how two senior officials could be openly working against expressed policy, Gates concluded that “the most likely explanation was that the president himself did not really believe the strategy he had approved would work.” This, just four months after Obama ordered his 30,000-troop “surge” into Afghanistan, warning the nation that “our security is at stake . . . the security of our allies, and the common security of the world.”

 

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368668/not-his-war-charles-krauthammer

 

Note: The above U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Bertha A. Flores shows U.S. Special Forces soldiers fire a mortar round toward an identified enemy fighting position while assisting Afghan forces clear Bahlozi village in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Jan. 1, 2014. Forces conducted the clearance mission to disrupt insurgents who hide in the village. The U.S. Special Forces soldiers are assigned to Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan.

Impact of Bin Laden's Death Still Unknown, Defense Secretary Robert Gates Says

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

CAMP EGGERS, Afghanistan, June 4, 2011 - It is too early to see if the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden will have an effect on the fighting in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

Speaking during a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the secretary also said the responsible drawdown of American forces ordered by President Barack Obama will begin next month.

Bin Laden used Afghanistan as a safe haven for years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. He had years to develop relationships with local Afghans, and he was a particularly close friend with Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

The drawdown must be cautious to begin, Gates said. "It is too soon yet to see the consequences or meaning of the elimination of bin Laden," he added.

Officials hope that because of the close ties between Mullah Omar and bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader's death at the hands of Navy SEALs in Pakistan will lead to many in the Taliban to walk away from al-Qaida and disavow the organization, the secretary said.

"I think it's too early to tell. My hope is that we would have some indication perhaps later this year of the impact," the secretary said. "But I think the important thing is for us to see through where we are today. We have enjoyed a lot of success over the last year to 18 months. We need to continue that."

If coalition and Afghan forces can continue to hold the territory that has been recaptured in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, then "we will be in a position toward the end of this year to perhaps have an opening with respect to reconciliation, or at least be in a position to say we've turned a corner here in Afghanistan," Gates said.

"I think making any change prior to that time would be premature," he added.

Karzai said he hopes those in the Taliban who are not affiliated with terror groups will "take this opportunity to return to their country in peace and dignity and participate with the rest of the Afghan people in rebuilding their country."

The president said Afghan forces will continue to take on Taliban fighters, but that "the Afghan people would want that this campaign ... does not bring them casualties in the form of more civilians bombarded or night raids that cause deaths to civilians, or detentions of civilians that cause suffering."

Strong U.S. Military Is Key To Long-Term Success Against Aggressors, Dictators And Terrorists In The 21st Century

By Fred W. Baker III, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2011 - The ultimate guarantee against success of aggressors, dictators and terrorists in the 21st century is the size, strength and global reach of the United States military, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.

"Beyond the current wars, our military credibility, commitment and presence are required to sustain alliances, to protect trade routes and energy supplies, and to deter would-be adversaries from making the kind of miscalculations that so often lead to war," Gates said, speaking at a graduation commencement ceremony at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Gates acknowledged that defense cuts will have to be made in light of the nation's steep fiscal imbalances and mounting debt, and that Washington cannot put off dealing with the crisis.

"But going forward, we must be clear-eyed about the fact that there are no painless answers," Gates said.

At the same time, Gates said, the United States faces a complex and unpredictable international security environment that includes a major war in Afghanistan, winding up the war in Iraq, revolution throughout the Middle East, new rising powers, nuclear proliferation in Iran and Korea, the continued threat of terrorism.

But, Gates added, America has faced equally tough times in the past and emerged successfully.

"We have battled slavery and intolerance in our own society, and on the global stage prevailed against Nazi Germany and Soviet communism. We have seen periods of painful economic collapse give way to renewed and unprecedented prosperity," Gates said. "Our progress has been sometimes unsteady, and sometimes too slow. Winston Churchill purportedly said during World War II, 'You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they've tried everything else.'"

But the U.S. story has been, and still is, the envy of the world, Gates said.

"Indeed, the death of Osama bin Laden after a decade-long manhunt by the United States reminded us earlier this month that, as President [Barack] Obama said, when faced with tough times, 'We do not falter. We don't turn back. We pick ourselves up and we get on with the hard task of keeping our country strong and safe," the secretary said.

Americans live now in a time of "great necessities," Gates said.

"For my entire life, the United States has been the most economically dynamic, powerful country and government in the world -- the indispensible nation," he said. "It still is all those things, and indeed, as I've traveled the world over the last four and a half years, I have been struck by the number of countries – from Europe to Southeast Asia – who want to forge closer ties with us and our military, and want the United States to play a bigger, not smaller, role as partners providing stability, security and prosperity across the globe.

"But there is no question that our ability to lead, and our economic strength – a given for nearly three quarters of a century – are being tested by fiscal problems at home and rising powers and emergent threats abroad. Your lives will be defined by how we respond to these challenges," he added.

America cannot assume, because things have worked out in the past, that the problems facing the country eventually will resolve themselves, Gates said. And, he added, the United States needs leaders able to make tough choices and work together.

As leaders debate those choices, the secretary said, some will call to shrink America's international commitments and the military's size and capabilities.

"As part of America getting its financial house in order, the size of our defense budget must be addressed," Gates said. "That means culling more bureaucratic excess and overhead, taking a hard look at personnel levels and costs, and re-examining missions and capabilities to separate the desirable or optional from the essential."

In considering those cuts, though, Gates urged caution.

"A recurring theme in America for nearly a century has been a tendency to conclude after each war that the fundamental nature of man and the iron realities of nations have changed -- that history, in all of its unpredictable and tragic dimensions, has come to a civilized end [and] that we will no longer have to confront foreign enemies with size, steel and strength," Gates said.

Another tendency, he added, has been for Americans repeatedly to avert their eyes in the belief that remote events elsewhere in the world need not engage this country.

"The lessons of history tell us we must not diminish our ability or our determination to deal with the threats and challenges on the horizon, because ultimately they will need to be confronted," Gates said. "If history – and religion – teach us anything, it is that there will always be evil in the world -- people bent on aggression, oppression, satisfying their greed for wealth and power and territory, or determined to impose an ideology based on the subjugation of others and the denial of liberty to men and women."

In keeping with his most recent commencement speeches at Washington State University, North Dakota State University and the University of Oklahoma, Gates used the opportunity to issue a call to public service.

"We need the active involvement of our best, most honest, citizens to make our democracy work -- whether as candidates for public office, as civil servants, members of our armed forces or in other roles," he said.

Gates, who entered government service 45 years ago this summer, will retire as secretary of defense next month. He challenged the graduates to consider taking an active role in their nation's life by committing to spending at least part of their careers in public service.

Gates closed with a quote by the elder President John Adams in a letter to his son, Thomas Boylston Adams, in which he wrote: "Public business, my son, must always be done by somebody. It will be done by somebody or another. If wise men decline it, others will not; if honest men refuse it, others will not."

"To this I would add," Gates said, "if America declines to lead in the world, others will not. So to the Notre Dame class of 2011, I would ask the wisest and most honest of you to find a way to serve and to lead our country to new greatness at home and around the globe."