Just as a data point (take it for what it’s worth) Biden was asked about this on Aug. 26:
Q Thank you, Mr. President. There are reports that U.S. officials provided the Taliban with names of Americans and Afghan officials to evacuate. Were you aware of that? Did that happen?
And then, sir, did you personally reject a recommendation to hold, or to recapture Bagram Air Force Base?
THE PRESIDENT: Here’s what I’ve done on the — ask this — I’ll answer the last question, first.
On the tactical questions of how to conduct an evacuation or a war, I gather up all the major military personnel that are in Afghanistan — the commanders, as well as the Pentagon. And I ask for their best military judgment: what would be the most efficient way to accomplish the mission.
They concluded — the military — that Bagram was not much value added, that it was much wiser to focus on Kabul. And so, I followed that recommendation.
Oh, give poor Erik Prince a break. (note: he speaks it with a K, like any good nazi)
He was supposed to get the entire country as a return on his investment in TrumpWorld, but those meddling Democrats cheated him out of what was rightfully his …….by voting.
And where are the tens of thousands needed to staff the base, defend it, control the 40 mile corridor, and shuttle evacuees through hostile territory going to come from?
Congress investigates all kinds of things, like whether to get rid of the penny. People are glad we’re getting out of Afghanistan, and most understand there was some risk involved. I’m sorry people died, but I’m not surprised, nor do I blame either Trump or Biden.
I’m not saying it will be “swept under the rug.” I’m saying people will have other things on their minds in 30 days.
Or we could just GTFO. Sounds better to me than putting thousands more Americans at risk with dozens of deaths each year. Just GTFO of there. Which they’re doing. Your preferred strategy of not GTFO, but rather putting more soldiers into this chaos, seems like it’d result in more American deaths.
At least we finally get the concession, here, that implementing the theory ‘keeping Bagram was the correct choice’ WOULD have necessitated the build-up inside Afghanistan of tens of thousands more US troops.
The assertion that such a build-up would have created a net positive for US security and foreign policy seems remarkably shaky.
And I guess we’re assuming the Taliban is just gonna be cool with us sending tens of thousands of soldiers into their territory to occupy a strategic base indefinitely?
How long do you propose we spend at war with the Taliban in order to achieve the goal of ending the war with the Taliban?
As noted above, the military leaders disagreed with your strategy. Can you elaborate on how you’ve come by your gift of strategy that is better than theirs?
Which, as you’ve been told, was impossible given the troop levels we agreed to at Doha. You’re suggesting that Biden should have ignored our agreement with the Taliban and surged more forces into their territory without their permission, which would have absolutely triggered more aggression from the Taliban.
And you continue to assume that ferrying tens of thousands of people down 40 miles of poorly defensible highway is somehow more “logical” than just using the airport.