The inability to come to an agreement in Washington has created much unease, and there’s more to come.
Biden’s budget will be pared down. But that would be okay – the budget was ambitious to begin with – were it not for progressive and moderate democrats tearing each other down and sending the negative signal that we can’t get it together, that we can’t compromise.
Biden has had a full plate but he’s not stepping up to reassure the country.
Will the debt ceiling be raised in time? I think so, but it just might not, not because it is intentional but because with all the infighting we could run out of time.
And the markets will sink, a recession will set in and the sense that leadership is deeply flawed will be seared in our minds.
Mr Biden, you’re the president of this country. You are no longer the senator from Delaware.
It is good that you have negotiating skills to make deals but you have an obligation to the voters to address us all.
In these difficult times you should be taking 5 minutes of your time every other day to speak to us directly to reassure us that the debt ceiling will be raised.
You are now the President. Not the senator.
And just what is the point of delaying the endorsement of Jerome Powell as Fed chairman? Trying to score points with progressives, score points with Senator Warren?
Mr Biden, reach into yourself and find the same resolve that you did when you chose to pull us out of Afghanistan. Then you spoke with assuredness, with conviction.
We need that again.
Republicans, meanwhile, five times more dysfunctional than democrats and toxic to the core, are increasing their chances of winning both houses next year. And that will be on you.
Voters have short memories.
If you don’t step up you will coast to a one term presidency – Harris won’t be able to fulfill her promise, and we’ll have Trump or a clone (Haley) again at the helm.
What kind of legacy will that be?
Meanwhile, at the politburo in Beijing, they are smiling broadly,
‘Americans are falling on their own sword. Again.’
It is a fair sized room in the university’s theatre – and it is packed with 500 elite students.
Xi begins. ‘If you have any doubts that we will defeat America, consider this: how many people have died from the coronavirus in China?’
Pause.
‘A little over 96 thousand. That is a lot, but we will do better next time if there is a next time. I say if, because we’re already working on preventing the spread of any other viral disease the moment it arrives.
Applause.
‘How many people have died in America because of the coronavirus?’
Silence.
‘Over 706 thousand… and counting’.
Gasp from the audience.
‘Which shows the ineptitude of that system. Put simply, the government in America lacks the capacity to persuade its citizens to do what needs to be done. And just what do some Americans say when they object to getting vaccinated?
“Oh, I have a right to my beliefs…”
Laughter from the audience.
“I have my principles…”
More laughter.
‘But no, you don’t – continues the chairman – because your not getting vaccinated puts a burden on all other citizens and the entire system, and if you become infected then you may transmit the virus to them. Plus the additional health costs that could be prevented.
Here in China we say No. No to anyone claiming the so called privilege of infecting anyone else.
So there it is. We, Chinese, believe strongly in the power of the collective, in the power of caring and respecting each other.
To do that we must surrender some of our individuality – not all – but most of it in the interest of the greater good.
While in America people are seen in the streets of every city lying on the sidewalk begging, hungry and ill, or abusing themselves with drugs as well dressed and well fed passersby don’t even glance at them, here in China we pick them up and give them shelter and medical care. And if they answer that it’s their right to lie there and kill themselves, we say no.’
Applause.
‘In the state of Texas in America, a very rich state, people over 21 years old now have the right to buy and carry a gun, concealed if they wish, no permit necessary, and go around all day doing so. And the thing is, they are very proud of that so called right. But I ask you, what is the purpose of it? To say to others “don’t look at me the wrong way because I may have a gun?”
Laughter.
‘I think people from Texas that do that must have very fragile egos…’
Laughter and applause.
‘… and are paranoid.’
More applause.
‘By the way, that state voted heavily for Donald Trump… one of their own.’
Laughter and applause.
‘And after Trump’s defeat, they complained loudly that the election was fraudulent.’
Silence.
‘In no developed country in the world is there such high number of mass killings as in America, people who are unhappy with their lives for one reason or another, deciding to buy a gun or machine gun or a cannon to fire on innocent people. And they can do it because all those weapons are for sale. Everything is for sale in America. Everything. There is no morality in America. Except for the one the dollar buys. Because if you make a lot of money, then you have arrived. Then you are a saint or a god. Never mind who you trampled on.
Silence.
Xi looks around the room. ‘There are a lot of women students here. But if you were in Texas, you would not have the right to have an abortion. That’s right. You would have to go to another state to have it done. So the same state that insists on the right to carry a gun to defend themselves from who knows what, denies women the right to their bodies.’
Boos from the audience.
‘There was an article in the American press the other day about judges who did not recuse themselves when hearing cases between parties when they had a financial interest in one of them. In most cases where they had a financial interest, they made a decision that favored their side. So corruption is everywhere, even in the courts.’
Boos from the audience.
‘So why do I say all of this? I do so to remind you that we are better than Americans.
That we will defeat them when the time comes. We are fighting that good fight as we speak. Their military and technology are presently better than ours, but we will soon surpass them. We will surpass them in science and technology and social organization, and we will because their individualism will keep them from organizing effectively.
We will defeat them while they play Tik Tok.’
Laughter
‘We will defeat them because they do not wish to learn to speak to each other.
If they did, then they would be harder to beat because they are a strong people. But we in the Communist Party believe Americans will fail to unite, and that alone will give us the power to surpass and conquer them.’
Standing applause.
‘Thank you. Thank you very much. Let us not take time for a few questions,’ continues Xi.
Student – Chairman, we here in China, have surrendered some of our personal freedom in the interest of the nation. In matters political we have to defer to the party at all times. How long is that to last?’
Xi – Good question. We must first dominate America. We must first be the uncontested leader of the world.
Other Student – Chairman, do you think we will need to go to war with America?
Xi – No. We will beat America with our markets, with our creativity and daring, with our superior intelligence, while they play video games. I am confident that America will implode from within. The Right and Left will not learn to speak to one another and slowly crumble as they kill each other.
Another Student – Chairman, how long do you think that will take?
Xi – 20 years. Maybe less. Our weapons to victory are our economic and scientific might. Though we keep strengthening our army and developing nuclear weapons to act as deterrent, our victory will be economic and scientific. Consider this, we have been able to send spacecraft to the other side of the moon entirely on our own. We were the first to do so.
America rejected our request to be part of the international space station, and yet, there we are in space. And we will keep building. And we will build a space station that will be the envy of the world.
Applause.
Xi – There is no need to hate America. They have helped us get started. So we are grateful for that, but we must rise to our rightful place as the most capable people on earth.
Here I add a historical note. If the Germans during WWII had not targeted the Jews, if they had left them alone and instead made them their own, they would have conquered all of Europe, and the United States would not have prospered from European markets as they did and a different balance of power would now exist.
If the Japanese would have done business with us instead of trying to slaughter and rape us all, then it would not have ignited in us the rage to fight back and Mao may not have had the strength to form the Communist Party.
So we must avoid the hate of others as a motivator, and instead let our markets conquer the world.
Another student – Chairman, which do you think will be better to negotiate with in America, a Democratic or Republican administration?
Xi – Democratic. Republicans are too elitist. And they still think of Ronald Reagan as the Second Coming.
Laughter.
Xi – The best president they have ever had was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who guided them during the depression and WWII and started much needed social programs.
Other student – Chairman, what about President Biden?
Xi – We’re still trying to figure him out.
Other Student – Chairman, you really think we are destined to rule the world?
Xi – Yes. And do so by example, not by force.
Student – Chairman, president Biden is saying the same thing to Americans, ‘Let us rule by the power of our example and not the example of our power.’
Xi – Yes, but to do that you must be able to speak to each other, and Republicans and Democrats are unable to do so and they will sink their nation. Which will help China rise faster.
So be patient and work hard. This is our time. This is China’s time.
All the students stand and give Chairman Xi a standing ovation.
All Students – in unison – Long Live China! Long Live Chairman Xi!’
Mr Biden’s aplomb in addressing the pandemic differs markedly with that of his predecessor. And so it reflects his willingness to transfer power.
Pointing to the scientific evidence that the incidence of Covid infections is higher amongst the unvaccinated, he has taken charge and mandated that federal and other workers take the vaccine.
It was his duty, he said in a televised address, to protect all Americans and so he was issuing the edict. Right away, though, his detractors started to complain that their freedoms were being infringed. But what freedoms? The freedom to increase the likelihood that you transmit an infection that could be fatal? Is that a freedom? When there are means to prevent it?
The president countered his critics by saying that they were taking a cavalier attitude toward the infection and he is correct.
What stands out in the president’s firmness is his willingness to do what is right. This is what the science is saying and I stand with the science.
By doing so he is showing his willingness to transfer power to science. And to whomever speaks the truth.
The previous president was incapable of doing so. When Mr Trump held his televised appearances at the height of the pandemic, with his scientific advisors standing beside him, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the mike to put his twist on the facts.
Had the previous president been a man willing to transfer power to the scientists and to let them do what they know how to do, then we would long ago been all vaccinated in this country and the economy would have been much farther along than it is now, let alone the lives that would have been spared.
But the previous president could not do it. The height of this incapacity showed when, after being soundly defeated at the polls, he insisted that it was not so. How could it be?
Deep in his mind a voice kept resounding, ‘why should I transfer power?’
And there were enough gullible people to buy into it that they marched on one of our highest symbols of democracy, Capitol Hill, just as the electoral ballots were being counted.
Their aim was clear. Disrupt the process.
They did not do it. Barely. But their intention was clear.
Notice how when Mr Biden speaks to us he is not surrounded by other officials. He stands alone when he addresses us. It is symbolic of his wish to convey that the final responsibility is his and he will exercise it fully. He will not run from it. But he is also willing to acknowledge his limits.
And because of it he can transfer power.
People who are able to do so are freer people. They think better. More clearly. For they are not burdened by grandiosity.
They are people who know themselves to be flawed but are willing to carry the burden of full responsibility for their decisions. Mr Biden will seek the opinion of experts in matters which are not of his competence but he will make the final choices, painful as they may be, as he did in Afghanistan.
Because, as all men, he is flawed, Mr Biden will make his mistakes, but it won’t be because he was careless or didn’t seek the best expert advice. A myriad other factors may intervene to make what appears to be a good choice go bad. But he will have tried his best.
And so he will stand alone behind that lectern and say as he did when announcing the vaccine mandates, ‘this is what I believe is the right thing to do for all Americans.’
And you can say what you want about him, but he gives you the sense he is doing the best he knows how to do.
The impulse to grandiosity lives in all of us. And all of us have to wrestle with it and try as hard as we can to pin it down so it won’t let us run in the wrong direction.
Some world leaders succumb to its allure.
Name any world leader who is diligently working to extend his hold on power beyond the legal limits that brought him to it, and we’re seeing an example of grandiosity not being confronted and restrained. And it belongs to all of us to not let it happen.
Unlike Mr Trump, Mr Biden is fully aware of his mortality. Because of it he is the competent leader that he is.
And so I thank him for being forthright, full of candor and decisiveness.
Keep it up, Mr President.
A final note: My take is that Jerome Powell is doing a great job as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank and you ought to reappoint him. He’s a most talented man and it will help maintain economic stability.
And on the matter of Latin America, should you choose to lift the embargo on Cuba, the spirit of that decision will put a smile in the hearts of all Latin Americans.
You’d be saying, ‘I’m transferring power to you. Now see what you can do with it. I’m getting out of the way.’
Photo by Stacey Gabrielle Koenitz Rozells on Pexels.com
Getting out of Afghanistan was a hard choice to make. It was painful.
Twenty years we stayed there and many relationships were formed. But we had to pull out. It was time to redirect our efforts elsewhere, including doing much needed work here at home.
The pain will take time to heal.
A parade of critics have decried president Biden’s decision, complaining bitterly as the pullout took place and then after. And yes, it was messy, but that was hard to avoid. Meanwhile, the president will continue to do whatever he can to assist those left behind and wanting to get out.
We made mistakes in Afghanistan. For one, our effort there was steadily undermined by Pakistan who did not hesitate to give shelter to the Taliban while calling themselves our allies.
And then, we did not make it a high priority to insist with the Afghans themselves, from the outset, that we had not gone to their land to stay. We did not make it a high priority to insist that, sooner or later, we would be leaving, and it would be up to them to put up the fight to defend their land.
That’s not to say that there are not thousands of courageous and talented Afghans, men and women, who did the best they could to stand up for their country against the Taliban.
The struggle for the soul of Afghanistan continues but, for now, the Taliban have gained the upper hand.
Turning to our hemisphere and immediately south of us, there is Cuba. For the longest time we have avoided making an important decision there as well. It is time we did so.
We have had an economic embargo on Cuba for 60 years. Has it worked?
No.
I suppose some can say, ‘we won, just look at how impoverished Cuba is?’ But I ask you, What kind of victory is that, to help run a country into poverty?
The poverty they sank into is not directly our fault because the government they have tolerated strangled personal freedom and private economic initiative, but the embargo didn’t help either.
But what was it about Cuba that made us be so inflexible? I mean, to stick to a policy that has not worked for 60 years is simply atrocious political thinking.
Was it because Cuba is so physically close to us, or because there are Cuban refugees in Florida with outsized influence in our foreign policy? Not that such influence has ever helped a democratic administration. Florida gave the presidency to Bush over Al Gore in 2000 and the likelihood is that, under a Gore presidency, 9/11 may not have happened, and even if it had, Gore would not have made the horrible decision to invade Iraq in 2003 claiming they had weapons of mass destruction, a choice made with insufficient evidence and defying reality. How could it be that a third world country like Iraq, would have weapons of mass destruction capable of threatening us? It is not that we didn’t have satellite imagery to monitor them. And yet we ignored the most basic facts. The poor judgement was plain to a multitude of Americans. I remember standing in a park with a lit candle in my hand as I joined in protest of the anticipated invasion. And demonstrations as such sprang up all over the nation. But the war mongers prevailed. Imagine all the lives spared if we had been more prudent?
So, no, the state of Florida has contributed nothing to elect democratic administrations and the likelihood is that, even if Pope Francis, Mr Biden’s friend, were to recommend him for sainthood, Florida would still vote Republican this next election and the next 10 subsequent ones also. Just like Texas with their love of guns and anti abortion sentiment and restrictive voting laws.
So, Mr Biden, never mind the votes, what’s important here is to do the right thing, just like you did in Afghanistan.
We embraced China, didn’t we? We said, let’s do business and let’s see how we both benefit. And we have. Even if now that country is choosing to further strangle political freedoms for their citizens while challenging us politically on the global stage.
But the Chinese have risen out of poverty.
Cuba, meantime, is stuck in it.
And just south of it, in Venezuela, a bankrupt political system under heavy Cuban influence is spreading misery everywhere.
Venezuela used to be a powerhouse in the oil industry. But their leaders managed to destroy that, too.
Cuba’s leadership has played a heavy hand in all those failed decisions.
But if you chose to lift the embargo on Cuba, Mr Biden, is it not possible that economic improvements would follow, in both nations?
Never mind political success. Leave that to the Cubans and Venezuelans.
Focus only on the economic benefits.
If you were to lift the embargo, Cubans, and then Venezuelans, would see their standard of living rise because they would likely be freer to take the initiative to do business and improve their lives.
And if they chose to stay communist or socialist, who cares, but they wouldn’t be poor and their suffering would be lessened.
We’re all well aware that people and nations can only be influenced up to a point.
Take the Chinese. Even after their outstanding economic success, they are still willing to let Xi Jinping run their lives, now even telling them how many hours of video games a week their children should play.
We keep hoping that one day the Chinese people will tell chairman Xi Jinping to go to hell, but in the meantime, the irrefutable fact is that they are becoming richer and richer.
Wouldn’t it be well worth it, Mr Biden, to give a chance to Cubans and Venezuelans to do the same by lifting the embargo?
Mr Biden, you got us out of Afghanistan. It took courage and determination but you got it done.
Thank you. And you are right. History will show you made the right decision.
It is very hard to make smooth transitions under any circumstances, and Afghanistan was a rough one from the start.
Critics of your choice abounded, and they relished what they saw as a chance to diminish you but in the end diminished themselves.
So we now turn that page and open this next one, Cuba.
We can’t rely on the old tactic of the embargo. That won’t do. It hasn’t worked.
Whereas in Afghanistan there were many calculations to make, Cuba is markedly different.
What we need is to lift the embargo. That is it.
Will lifting the embargo prolong the life of the dictatorial elite? Maybe. But lifting the embargo will more likely be a greater bonus for the people of Cuba, who will then be better prepared to eventually do away with that cruel and oppressive regime.
The Cuban system is destined to crumble from within, not from externally imposed sanctions.
No protest in Cuba has a chance to overthrow the regime because it stands well armed by China or Russia or both, and will not hesitate to fire upon fellow Cubans to crush whatever menace is on the rise.
Lifting the embargo, on the other hand, offers the chance of broadening and deepening the productive capacity and initiative of the Cuban people, and then they will come up with the ideas and the timing to oust the government.
Please think of the image you will be projecting to the rest of South America and the world. ‘We will not stand in the way of men and women seeking their freedom.’
Holding on to the embargo has only brought misery to the people.
You have the unique chance of following the success of Afghanistan with the opportunity to enlarge the lives of all Cubans and by extension the lives of other men and women in the world.
Yesterday, I read that Mikhail Gorbachev is now 90 years old. A play has opened in Moscow to celebrate his life. It’s a two person play, Gorbachev and his wife Raisa. I had the great pleasure of seeing him and even asking him a question at a forum in downtown Los Angeles shortly after being replaced by Boris Yeltsin in 1991.
Recently, he attended a rehearsal of the play in his honor and at the end stood up to an ovation. The article said he had nothing to add to the play. The only thing he said was, ‘It’s all about freedom.’
To Gorbachev alone belongs the enormous distinction of having broken up the Soviet Union.
Cuba, Mr Biden, offers you a wonderful opportunity to enlighten the minds of men and women throughout the world.
In the same way that you freed us from the onerous burden of Afghanistan, you have the unique opportunity to say to the Cuban people, ‘Let not an embargo stand in your way, take from free markets what you must, find your strength in the power of ideas, and fight to gain your freedom. We Americans will be rooting for you.’
Yesterday, an opinion writer in the Wall Street Journal compared Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan to Britain’s Neville Chamberlain’s backing off from a confrontation with Hitler prior to WWII. He could not be more wrong.
There is no shortage of resolve in Mr Biden and those who think so will pay dearly if they choose to test him.
That the pullback from Afghanistan has been messy was hard to avoid.
Afghanistan’s fall will not diminish our standing in the world, while here at home there is already a sense of relief.
Afghanistan has little geopolitical importance and given the support the Taliban has had from neighboring Pakistan, the task of containing them was an impossible one.
Mistakes were made, no doubt. But we will learn from them.
The pullback from Afghanistan is a key part of Biden’s move to rebuild our nation.
The WSJ opinion writer does not get that. He does not even mention it.
The omission is reflective of a glaring mistake, that of believing that our country can continue to wage all manner of international missions without addressing the problems we have here at home.
Biden understands the national priorities while he remains attuned to the major international movements that call for a national repositioning, and so he and his team have crafted the Build Back Better program to make us stronger and deal effectively with China.
Biden’s vision is clear. We need a stronger America.
The loud criticisms he’s got, primarily from the political Right, are mostly partisan politics, coming from an opposition party which lacked the vision to plan ahead, got trounced at the polls and then chose to not challenge their president’s assertion that the election had been fraudulent, which led to the unprecedented assault on the Capitol on January 6th.
The WSJ opinion writer just doesn’t get it. We are deep in the midst of a transformative agenda to strengthen America and give everyone a fair chance.
Our resources are not limitless.
Twenty years in Afghanistan is a heck of an investment in another nation.
But it is up to Afghans to stand on their own and make their choices.
We should have left long ago, but it took a President Biden to say, ‘enough is enough.’
It took a man like Biden to say, ‘I was elected president of the American people, and will do what I must to improve their lot.’
That takes guts.
Presidents came and went but it took Biden to say, ‘it’s time. We have to leave.’
And no one, no one, could in their right mind, expect a tidy exit.
The same way that no one had thought that the Afghan army, stronger in numbers than the Taliban, would choose to lay down their arms as the mujahideen advanced.
Was their country not worth fighting for?
That will be on the consciences of Afghans to deal with.
As to the chaos at the airport in Kabul, it will soon settle down as evacuations come to an end in the next few days. And if it doesn’t, so be it.
We need to rebuild our nation. We need to work on improving the skills level of our citizens, their education and health, all of which will result in greater wellbeing and productivity.
Many of our cities and rural areas are in desperate need of attention and assistance.
President Biden sees that. But the whole lot of his critics, both Republicans and Democrats, who claim to be aghast at the messy exit and the tragic scenes of Afghans clinging to a moving airplane on the tarmac of the Kabul airport, instead of empty blabber, should take a good look at themselves and ask if they’re not being unfair with Biden.
Afghanistan had long ago ceased to be geopolitically important and yet we stayed and stayed.
Almost 2500 American soldiers have died in the effort.
It has taken a president like Biden, who is mindful of our people’s needs, to put things in perspective and better allocate our resources.
It was time to leave. And it is time to reassess our role in defense of others around the world.
Here in our nation, we, the citizens, have a right to not be the victims of senseless violence. We, the citizens, have a right to have the opportunity to be the best we can be.
We can and will help others in need elsewhere in the world, even when it takes something that we ourselves don’t have enough of, but we cannot be careless with how we use our resources.
For we have also a duty to remind those we help, that they must do all they can to help themselves.
Our interventions abroad must be time limited. Are we in northern Syria to support the Kurds? Then we must make it clear that the arrangement is not permanent. Same with Iraq.
We have a large military base in Qatar, which should be enough as far as the Middle East is concerned.
The wide political divide here at home is a glaring sign of long standing neglect.
What is the use of sending troops all over the world if we don’t manage our problems here at home?
Working hard to improve our people, will help us project an image of strength that is fully grounded in reality.
I think it will have a positive effect. There might be a downward blip come Monday but then the Dow will rebound.
For too long it’s been clear we had no business staying there. Neighboring Pakistan had persistently undermined our efforts to prop up the anti Taliban regime in Kabul.
Biden’s decision to pull out, which I believe was the right one, accelerated what was long felt to be an inevitable outcome. Afghans who were not on the Taliban’s side did not put enough effort into preparing for the resistance.
Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s president, flew out earlier today to Tajikistan, a former Soviet Republic that shares a border.
Hamid Karzai, a previous president, has stayed behind with his three daughters and has offered to take part in the transition of power, but it’s all up to the Taliban.
Will the new regime be as backwards and repressive as the one that we displaced in 2001?
There is reason to believe they may not. Our twenty year presence has left an imprint and largely positive. We have left evidence of how things can be done differently.
Next door, in Iran, a more modern version of a Muslim government is in place, one which allows women to go to school, work and even hold political office. Maybe that will influence the new rulers.
We will see.
Does the fall of Afghanistan represent a political setback for Biden? I don’t think so, though many will try to depict it as such.
Initial reports from Kabul say that the evacuation of foreign diplomats is proceeding unhindered. President Biden sent additional troops to facilitate the process.
Recently, in the wake of the surging Taliban offensive which soon will lead to the final assault on Kabul, the capital, an Afghan man was quoted as saying, ‘You didn’t fix the problem.’
He was angry that America was leaving his land.
America had come and stayed for 20 years but now was leaving and the Taliban would take over again.
Women would once again be forced to marry and wear the all-enveloping burqas, their possibilities for personal development deeply curtailed.
‘You didn’t fix the problem,’ said the man.
There is passivity in those words. The expectation that others are to fix the problem. The problem, of course, is the Taliban. The brutally rigid group of Afghans who wish to return to rule the country in the name of Islam.
Did America fail?
Yes, we did. Failed to fire up in Afghans who are open to change, the will and power needed to fight off the repressive Taliban and rebuild the nation.
But Afghans knew all along that America and their NATO allies would not stay forever. We had gone there to root out the terrorist group Al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks and then stayed to boost the country’s modernization.
Afghans had to know that the foreigners would not stay forever – it was not their land – but failed to use that opportunity to summon up their own courage and work steadily to overcome their national differences and be prepared to fight the enemy.
‘You didn’t fix the problem’ is the lament of a frustrated man who, having seen how much different life can be, now will have to abide by whatever the Taliban says.
If he has a daughter over 15, then she is ready for marriage to a Taliban fighter if they so wish. Her choice is irrelevant. And truncated are her possibilities as a full human being.
‘You didn’t fix the problem,’ is the cry of Afghans who didn’t band together to stop the forces of darkness they knew were just waiting for the foreigners to leave.
But can Afghans still rise in defense of their land? I don’t think so. Of course, miracles can happen. But the likelihood is that the world has to prepare itself to read report after report of people executed because they were enemies of the Taliban.
And as soon as the dust and smoke settles after fighters on the ground capture Kabul and take over the entire country, the Taliban’s supreme leaders, now in comfortable settings in Qatar and under that government’s protection, will make their triumphant return.
The number of the executed will keep growing and we will be reminded of Myanmar’s tragedy.
Yes, America had to leave. It was time. We had to leave because we have to rebuild our nation.
Rebuild because we are not united and if we remain so we will lose our land.
But we should ask ourselves, how hard did we try to get Afghans to say, ‘We must fix our problem. It is our problem. Others can help us and we will be most grateful, but it is our problem to fix.’
‘Fellow Americans… it is with a sad heart that we witness the gradual fall of Afghanistan.
We went there 20 years ago to root out Al Qaeda and find Osama Bin Laden. In the process we connected with the Afghan people. Heard their stories, their fears of being ruled by a repressive regime. We opened schools and a university and tried our best to share our values, the right of every human being to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We spent an enormous amount of money building up their armed forces, and our brave soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with them against the Taliban.
Nearly 2500 of our soldiers died in the struggle.
I wish I could now tell you that what we did was enough. I wish I could now tell you that what we did has a chance to grow into something lasting. I wish.
The reality, however, appears to be different… and we have to face it.
The Taliban keeps making steady advances and conquering city after city.
We continue to assist the Afghan Army by providing aerial support from our bases in the region, but it is not enough.
What happened?
We accomplished our goal of tracking down Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attack on our nation. We accomplished our goal of putting a check on Al Qaeda. But we were not able to change the core of that country in a way that makes it unlikely Al Qaeda will mount another attack on us. So, as always, we must be on guard.
What I have to say now is not easy for me. In spite of all our efforts, we could not instill in the majority of the Afghan people the will to unite, to overcome their differences and present a solid front to fight and defend themselves against the Taliban.
Twenty years we spent there and we now are leaving. We have to. It pains us to do so because unless the Afghan army and the people push back and mount a strong defense, Afghanistan will fall to the Taliban and so many Afghans will find their dreams and aspirations ruthlessly trampled upon.
But why do we have to leave?
Because we have to rebuild our nation. Yes. Our nation.
We have to raise the level of productivity in our citizens. The level of education. We have to change the social conditions that foster so much dysfunction and animosity in our land.
How is it possible that, on January 6th, a group of our fellow citizens felt entitled to plunder our Capitol in violation of our basic rules? What led us there?
We have to invest in better caring for each other so we stop those senseless acts, and the senseless killings in our cities and towns.
I know we can, if we put our hearts and minds to it. As we do, we will grow stronger and wiser.
The road ahead is long and arduous but the good news is that we are on our way.
As the world watches, our standing must be a reflection of how free we are to be the best we can be.
My administration is committed to laying down the foundation to achieve that goal.
And with the help of our fellow Republicans, it is well within our reach if we stay on task.
We can do it, I assure you. It is urgent that we do. United we rise, divided we fall.
The story of Afghanistan teaches us a great deal.
We have to constantly keep building bridges to each other. We cannot stop.
Build bridges from the urban to the rural. From the wealthy to the poor, from the well educated to the less educated, from people of one color to people of another. Build bridges from the Right to the Center and to the Left, for we are all Americans who need each other and have to trust each other to confront the challenges that life will continually bring us.
There is no time to rest. We must act.
It remains my fervent hope and prayer, that the Afghan people and their Army, will find in themselves the needed strength to resist and overcome the forces of repression and darkness that the Taliban represent. But it is up to them.
Meanwhile, we will continue to provide aerial and tactical support.
My fellow Americans, let us pull together… strive with all our might… and I assure you our nation will lead by the power of our example.
Oscar Valdes 