The Biden Afghanistan failures go beyond just Joe Biden.

CBS News published a poll that showed that the majority of Americans no longer believe President Biden is a competent leader. But Americans need to know: It's not just Biden who’s failing.

By: Mo Gerstley

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates once famously said that Joe Biden has ‘‘been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.’’ The Defense Secretary was criticized for saying it, but in light of the recent killing of 13 American soldiers by an Afghan suicide bomber belonging to ‘‘ISIS-K’’, the abandonment of BILLIONS of dollars worth of U.S military equipment ultimately taken by the Taliban, and the complete disregard for thousands of American citizens left behind to die under a tyrannical regime, many are beginning to understand what Gates meant by ‘‘wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue.’’ The President was warned against this, and under bi-partisan pressure for his Afghan failure, he blamed the defeat on anyone but him. He blamed Trump for his 2020 dealings with the Taliban, he blamed the GOP for unknown reasons, he blamed all four of his predecessors, he blamed the Afghan government, the Afghan Army, and he even had the audacity to blame the situation on the underpowered citizens of Afghanistan for not ‘‘fighting’’ back. It's shocking how he blames everyone despite earlier stating that ‘‘the buck stops with me.’’ The President refuses to take responsibility for the situation his administration crafted. Marc A. Thiessen from the Washington Post, brilliantly pointed out that during the Obama administration's execution of the initial exit from Iraq in 2009 was also botched by Biden. President Obama made a decision to appoint Biden as head of operations for the Iraq withdrawal, saying ‘‘Joe, you do Iraq’’ in a private security meeting. But that was messed up by then-Vice President Biden as well. He ignored the Pentagon Plan to leave a residual force in Iraq to sustain America's presence in the region while withdrawing other troops, rather, Biden abruptly left with no plan. It was such a bad execution of the withdrawal, that 2 years later in 2011, President Obama had to reorganize the placement and planning of military operations in Iraq in an attempt to properly leave the region. Biden didn't leave a residual force in Iraq, thus messing the operation up. But that’s not it. Sources close to the matter even say that in May of 2011, Biden suggested abandoning the Seal operation to kill Bin Laden. Fortunately, Americans are taking notes of these detrimental decisions. According to a CBS poll, 77% of Americans believe that the withdrawal was handled badly and that 51% of Americans no longer believe that President Biden is a competent leader. Americans recognizing the flawed leadership of President Biden is great, but it neglects to recognize that Biden had accomplices in this enormous failure. Back when Biden initially announced he’d be conducting a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was the ‘‘last person in the room’’ and advised the President closely on this matter. So it's likely not a wild claim, to presume that the VP also had a major role in the disaster that led to the death of 13 American soldiers, the abandonment of U.S military equipment taken by the Taliban, and leaving American citizens in Afghanistan, and before Kamala Harris rises, it's critical that Americans remember that.