In mid-August, President Joe Biden faced a tough strategic decision in the midst of his disastrous plan to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.
The world was watching terrifying images of Afghan men clinging to the side of transport jets as they took off from Hamad Karzai airport in Kabul, only to eventually fall to their deaths. These desperate men would rather cling to the side of a jet and plummet to the ground rather than face the terror of the new Taliban regime.
Days after this debacle, the US embassy lowered its flag as diplomats led by the US Ambassador fled the scene, leaving untold thousands of American citizens and green card holders without any reasonable means to exit the country.
To make matters worse, Biden had directed the closing of Bagram airbase, the most secure airfield in the country that (until America's dark-of-night exodus) had been the safest and most logical point of departure for Americans, Afghan allies, and the US military.
Despite assurances that the embassy would stay open and that Americans would be allowed safe transit out of the war-torn nation, it appeared in mid-August that Biden's precipitous bug-out was destined to leave Americans stranded or even killed.
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Clearly, Biden needed to do something to fix the problem. What did he and his crack team of advisers come up with?
Well, they could have notified the Taliban that because these terrorists had already violated the terms of the negotiated withdrawal, the US would now reverse course and stay in Afghanistan beyond the arbitrary August 31 deadline so as to ensure the safe passage of every American from the nation, but they didn't.
They could have marshaled their forces to overtake control of Karzai airport so that we didn't have to rely on the murderous Taliban to provide security in and out of the capital's last remaining airport, but they didn't.
They could have issued a stern and unequivocal ultimatum that the Taliban stand down from their rampaging civil war until Americans and our allies were safely out of harm's way, and then they could carry out their inevitable take over of the country, but they didn't do that either.
What was their brilliant response to the horrific events in Kabul? They scheduled an interview with George Stephanopoulos at ABC News.
Yup, what they really needed was some damage control.
So, they called Clinton Administration adviser Stephanopoulos and scheduled their interview.
This will solve everything!
The dominant question on everyone's lips at the time of the interview was, "What the hell were we thinking giving up Bagram and using the civilian airport to get our military out before we got the civilians out? Whose stupid idea was this? How could you not leave enough troops there to ensure safety for the civilians who still wanted to leave?"
Of course, Biden is the Commander-in-Chief, so ultimately, it was HIS stupid idea... but how could the generals possibly sit by and let that happen without raising an objection or resigning in protest?
Biden stated firmly that all his top military men said everything was going to be fine.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But your top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.
BIDEN: No, they didn't. It was split. Tha-- that wasn't true. That wasn't true.
STEPHANOPOULOS: They didn't tell you that they wanted troops to stay?
BIDEN: No. Not at -- not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a timeframe all troops. They didn't argue against that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So no one told -- your military advisors did not tell you, "No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It's been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that"?
BIDEN: No. No one said that to me that I can recall.
Enter Gen Austin Miller. Gen. Miller isn't just some random general. He was the top man in command of the NATO operation in Afghanistan. He specifically warned against this withdrawal plan and specifically wanted to keep a certain number of troops in-country until all civilians were safely out.
In a closed briefing Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Austin Scott Miller confirmed that he registered his dissent with Mr. Biden’s decision with the top brass — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin; Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of U.S. Central Command.
Biden is lying. He ignored his top military advisers, and he put Americans in harm's way leading to the murder of 13 servicemembers on his watch. And now, he's doing what he and his team always have done... they're trying to control the damage, lie and hope the story goes away.
It worked with Benghazi, didn't it?
But make no mistake... Biden is lying. How do we know?
Because in the same damage-control interview from mid-August with Democratic Party operative George Stephanopolous, Biden also said this:
STEPHANOPOULOS: All troops are supposed to be out by August 31st. Even if Americans and our Afghan allies are still trying to get out, they're gonna leave?
BIDEN: We're gonna do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Does that mean troops will stay beyond August 31st if necessary?
BIDEN: It depends on where we are and whether we can get-- ramp these numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day coming out. If that's the case, we'll be-- they'll all be out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: 'Cause we've got, like, 10,000 to 15,000 Americans in the country right now, right? And are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every American who wants to be out--
BIDEN: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- is out?
BIDEN: Yes.
He lied then, and he's lying now.