Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan led to harrowing scenes: thirteen American servicemembers murdered. Women throwing their babies over barbed wire fences into the arms of soldiers. Hundreds of desperate Afghans clinging to the wheels of a C-17.

Just before Easter, the Biden administration released a “report” they claim vindicates their decision-making in Afghanistan. In it, Biden’s team did the only thing they are capable of – blaming President Trump for their own failures. In a nutshell, the report claims that Biden’s ability to conduct the pullout was impeded by former President Trump. Moreover, Biden complains that Trump did not give his administration a plan for how to execute the withdrawal and evacuate Americans and Afghan partners. Of course, the American people can see right through that lie. The way Biden executed the withdrawal ultimately led to the catastrophe that unfolded, and he must take accountability for what happened. It was Joe Biden who chose to close Bagram Airfield, and it was Joe Biden who arbitrarily announced the September 11 evacuation deadline, ignoring the advice of his generals who urged him not to do so. In an act of sheer incompetence, Biden surrendered control of Hamid Karzai International Airport to the Taliban, and handed over the names of American citizens, green card holders, and Afghan partners to the Taliban, allegedly so that the Taliban would know who was permitted to evacuate.  

This will be remembered as one of the worst foreign policy disasters in American history. The botched withdrawal damaged America’s image on the world stage, and sent once-strong alliances into a tailspin. Some of our most important allies now believe the United States to be weak and unreliable, which has in turn emboldened the New Axis of Evil: Communist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using every tool in its toolbox to expand its influence while Biden looks the other way. Beijing wasted no time normalizing relations with the Taliban and is investing in Afghanistan as part of its imperialist Belt and Road Initiative. The CCP knows what it's doing–Afghanistanhas $1 trillion in untapped resources that Communist China has already signed a deal to extract. When they sent a spy balloon floating over the continental U.S. (and various sensitive military sites) Biden allowed it to gain intelligence for a week before shooting it down. In the Indo-Pacific, the Chinese military is becoming increasingly aggressive toward Taiwan. Meanwhile, North Korea continues to test ballistic missiles, and Iran is now technically capable of building multiple nuclear weapons. Not to be outdone, six months after Biden surrendered to the Taliban, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, launching the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. Think this is a coincidence? Think again.

Biden knows that he has only himself to blame for such cascading failure. But in the wake of this catastrophe, there has been no accountability. No one has been fired for the devastating decisions that were made. This is unfathomable. 

On August 31, 2021, when Biden ended the evacuation operation, there were anywhere from 4,000 to 9,000 Americans left in Afghanistan. Around 175 Americans are still in Afghanistan today, some held captive by the Taliban. What a disgrace. On his way out the door, Biden also handed the Taliban at least $7.2 billion of American weaponry, including aircraft, vehicles, and guns. Some of those weapons are cropping up in other countries in the hands of militants. 

Under the Taliban, Afghanistan has fallen back into the Dark Ages. 23 million Afghans are going hungry. 78,000 Afghan partners are hiding in fear, praying the Taliban doesn’t find them. 20 million Afghan women, abandoned by Biden’s allegedly progressive administration, suffer in subjugation. Biden’s surrender to the Taliban will have consequences that will be felt for years to come.

Someone needs to tell Biden that he cannot continue to proclaim the Afghanistan withdrawal a success while simultaneously blaming the fallout on Donald Trump. This report has more in common with a movie script than a legitimate foreign policy analysis, but if there’s any truth to be gleaned, it’s that the Biden administration hasn’t learned any lessons from its failures.