# Biden's damage to foreign affairs **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 7, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202 "2021-09-07T03:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/1 "2021-09-07T03:19:10Z")
During Biden’s campaign, he promised to reverse Trump’s handling of foreign affairs on several points. What it all boiled down to was that Trump had a “go it alone” mentality; he basically told our allies, “my way or the highway.” Biden said he would return to the former state of consulting with our allies, listening to Europe, etc. And then came along the ignominious, shambolic exit from Afghanistan. Apparently, Biden has a highly selective definition of what it means to be an ally. > Just days after taking office, President Biden made a solemn [declaration](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/04/remarks-by-president-biden-on-americas-place-in-the-world/): “America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” and “we will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.” More than seven months into his administration, the results are in: No U.S. president has done more damage to our alliances, or America’s standing in the world, in so short a time, as Biden has with his Afghanistan debacle. > **[Opinion | Biden’s Afghan retreat has done irreparable damage to our alliances](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/02/bidens-afghan-retreat-has-done-irreparable-damage-our-alliances/)** > > Joe Biden — the great champion of multilateralism and critic of Republican unilateralism — wasn’t sure if there was a benefit to picking up the phone and calling a world leader? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/2 "2021-09-07T03:23:36Z")
I can’t access that site. Who wrote that _opinion_ piece that apparently told you what you want to hear? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/3 "2021-09-07T03:27:25Z")
Oh, did our allies want to stay in Afghanistan? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/4 "2021-09-07T03:29:17Z")
Marc A. Thiessen! And for those unfamiliar, > **Marc Alexander Thiessen** (born January 13, 1967) is an American conservative author, political appointee, and weekly columnist for _The Washington Post_ . Thiessen served as a speechwriter for United States President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2009 and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from 2001 to 2006. > {…} > In 2010, he published the book _Courting Disaster: How the C.I.A. Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack_ , which defended the use of torture during the George W. Bush administration, and claimed that the Obama administration’s rejection of torture might lead to American deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/5 "2021-09-07T03:31:14Z")
Look, Biden did badly, but he’s still **light-years** better than Trump in this department. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/6 "2021-09-07T03:31:16Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/7 "2021-09-07T03:32:30Z")
And? Way to attack the source rather than his argument. Assuming you can. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/8 "2021-09-07T03:33:40Z")
Oh no!! An opinion piece!! Thats what almost all political reporting is to one degree or another. If you have a problem with his arguments attack them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/9 "2021-09-07T03:34:55Z")
What were the first five words in my first post in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/10 "2021-09-07T03:37:54Z")
Did you forget the second sentence that you wrote? Were you so dismissive when a Liberal columnist wrote a critical piece about a Republican President? Part of the problem in America today is that so many people only listen to voices from their side and ignore criticism of it. A critical press is vital no matter who is in power because mistakes in government hurt us all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/11 "2021-09-07T03:40:26Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Did you forget the second sentence that you wrote? Were you so dismissive when a Liberal columnist wrote a critical piece about a Republican President? Was I as dismissing when an unknown Liberal columnist wrote a critical piece about an unnamed Republican President at some unknown time in the past? Who the fuck knows? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/12 "2021-09-07T03:41:22Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Part of the problem in America today is that so many people only listen to voices from their side and ignore criticism of it. Are you addressing this to me, or the OP? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/13 "2021-09-07T03:42:06Z")
Anyone who reads these boards knows and in your defense you are far from alone. My side good other side evil is the theme on these boards. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/14 "2021-09-07T03:43:12Z")
To you. You were critical of an opinion piece that you hadnt read because you suspected that the author of it was a conservative. Like that would invalidate his arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/15 "2021-09-07T03:45:20Z")
As I have _already_ said, I cannot access that opinion piece. Why don’t you tell me what parts of it you agree with, and I will try to give a proper response? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/16 "2021-09-07T03:46:02Z")
I cant access it at the moment either. Let me see if there is another way to read this piece. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/17 "2021-09-07T03:48:31Z")
We can access it by signing up for a free account. No CC needed to sign up. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/18 "2021-09-07T03:50:32Z")
This part. > [@](#): > > At a virtual meeting of Group of Seven leaders last week, the Associated Press [reports](https://apnews.com/article/europe-afghanistan-g-7-summit-13631be5beba847935719ec4d8a4d5ce), Biden “clashed” with America’s closest allies, who pleaded with him to extend the artificial deadline he set for the U.S. withdrawal, noting that, according to the AP, “no country would be able to evacuate all their citizens and at-risk Afghan allies by the Aug. 31 deadline.” But Biden refused to budge. > > German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that “without the United States of America … we — the others — cannot continue the evacuation mission.” Canada [says](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-says-1250-canadians-and-family-members-still-stranded-in/) it was forced to leave about [1,250 Canadian citizens](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/thousands-destined-for-canada-trapped-in-afghanistan-group-requests-federal-aid-1.5567816), permanent residents and their family members in Afghanistan. Britain [left](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/afghanistan-evacuation-left-behind/2021/08/27/90f2758a-0665-11ec-b3c4-c462b1edcfc8_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) behind up to 1,100 Afghans who worked for its military and embassy, while Germany left behind at least 6,000 of its Afghan partners and France left behind at least 1,000. Biden not only betrayed our citizens and Afghan allies but also forced NATO allies to betray theirs as well. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/19 "2021-09-07T03:58:07Z")
Ah, our allies wanted us to break the deal that Trump and Pompeo made with the Taliban. And their backup plan was…? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202/20 "2021-09-07T04:00:33Z")
They wanted Biden to delay the pullout until our allies could evacuate all their people. Not only wouldnt Biden agree but he went incommunicado. This is incompetence on a Trumpian level. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-damage-to-foreign-affairs/950202.md?page=2)