The terrorist bombing in Afghanistan by ISIS-K was awful, all the more so since the soldiers and evacuees killed were not only leaving, but leaving in days.
A friend wrote to me about how the terrorist attack won’t help President Biden. And no, it won’t – especially with Republicans doing what Republicans do, playing ghoulish games of politics including some having phony fits and bizarrely calling for the President to resign. But, I think too many people react to the news of the moment, especially when the news is so bad and tragic. But how the country feels today is not how it will feel even in two weeks, if the people in charge keep doing their job and succeed at it, in this case, get out of Afghanistan. Further, most of the country tends to rally around the president when the U.S. is attacked, and also, the bombing focuses even more the importance of why we’re leaving, why we should never have been there, most especially for 20 years. And with most Americans already entirely evacuated from Afghanistan and over 80,000 evacuations completed so far, those numbers should help the public perception of a leader in charge accomplishing the task, even amid the chaos and death. Also, lest any Republicans keep trying to show President Biden being clueless and not in control, it’s important that only days before, Joe Biden specifically named ISIS-K as a threat in Afghanistan who we were aware of. And ultimately, by the time the mid-term election comes around (which is mostly what my friend was referencing), I think the story about Afghanistan will be that we got out, that we should have gotten out, and that the number of people evacuated was huge. Two comments on Twitter yesterday stood out for their perspective, something that tends to be missing from instant commentary and analysis. One was by Farah Stockman, who is on the editorial board of the New York Times. She wrote – “My heart is breaking for Afghanistan. But let's not forget: Kabul has been rocked by explosions and unacceptably violent attacks for many years. If you think the past 15 years has been relatively peaceful there, you weren't paying attention. The other by Mehdi Hasan of MSNBC. He wrote -- “Worth reminding folks that ISIS wouldn't exist today if George Bush and Tony Blair hadn't invaded Iraq in 2003. “ISIS in Afghanistan didn't even exist until 2014/2015. “But hey, it's easier to have a short memory or no memory at all, and blame everything on the withdrawal.” But speaking of having a short memory – or, in this case, no memory at all, what leaped out yesterday was an amazing awful interview that Trump gave yesterday to Hugh Hewitt. (And this doesn’t even include him going off on a rant about how Pfizer controls the FDA, because Hewitt cut him off and veered protectively to another subject, without challenging him or saying, “What on earth are you talking about??!!” No, far worse than that – and equally unchallenged by Hewitt – (and remember, this was yesterday!) was when Trump went over the edge trying to pump up how great he was fighting ISIS compared to Barack Obama fighting al-Qaeda. Never mind that it was a division of ISIS in Afghanistan (who Trump has long insisted he ended) that committed the terrorist bombing yesterday. But only yesterday, in trying to explain that Osama bin Laden really wasn't that big, Trump said – please sit down to steady yourself – "bid Laden only had one hit." Yes, Trump said that, yesterday. And keep in mind, mind-numbingly idiotic and crass as that is on any day, but especially yesterday, making it even worse is that we are just two weeks before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Hey, at least Trump did follow that by noting, “it was a bad one.” His deep insight is staggering. Yes, it was indeed a bad one, which changed U.S. foreign policy. Less staggering is that he then says it was in New York City, the World Trade Center. What he has forgotten, this man with the world’s greatest memory, he says, is that bin Laden’s attacks on 9/11 were not just the World Trade Center in New York. Another airplane also crashed into the Pentagon, and a third airplane was on its way to another target, as well, when it was stopped by passengers before crashing. And never mind, too, that (not shockingly) what Trump said wasn’t even remotely true, since Osama bin Laden ordered many other terrorist raids. In 1998, it was a bin Laden operation that resulted in simultaneous bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that together killed 224 people. Further, under bin Laden, al-Qaeda also bombed the USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 Americans on board. So, y’know, more than one “hit.” But then, as far “one hit wonders” go, Hitler only had one war. So, apparently he wasn't that big either, by Trump "standards." As Maggie Haberman of the New York Times tweeted – “Trying to imagine the reaction if Biden said anything approaching this during a week in which US troops were killed at the end of a war that began after 9/11.” Instead, dealing with a terrorist attack as America was leaving a 20-year war that went on 20 years too long, what President Biden did say was deep, heartfelt words to try to help console a nation. By the way, it got even worse for Trump because in the interview he kept referring to ISIS-K as "ISIS-X" which...well, doesn't exist. And because he had no clue what he was talking about, he compounded the problem by making up an explanation for it all. "...and ISIS-X, as you know, I knocked out 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. I knocked it out in Syria, Iraq, we knocked it out, so now they have a new ISIS called ISIS-X, and that's members of the Taliban that are far more vicious because they don't like the way the Taliban is behaving because they're not vicious enough." It's like he was making up an ad on the sport for "the New, Improved ISIS -- ISIS-X, when regular ISIS isn't vicious enough, and you want to get rid of those nasty trouble spots." And to be clear, not only did Trump not "knock out ISIS," but the Taliban and ISIS are actually enemies, they hate each other. So, no, there is not a newly-developed division of ISIS made up of members of the Taliban, because each group is fighting the other. And all this in in interview -- yesterday -- when he tried to whine about President Joe Biden's supposed "bizarre behavior." If ever you wanted an example of Trump Projecting, this would be Exhibit A. Or rather, Exhibit X. It was not a good day. Republicans will, no doubt, keep trying to make it worse and about things it’s not, and look empty in the process. But soon, President Biden will have gotten America out of Afghanistan. Which is what most Americans have said they want. Getting out of a war is chaotic, tragic and messy. The war -- for 20 years -- was overwhelmingly, ghoulishly worse.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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