{"id":326250,"date":"2021-08-17T03:05:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T00:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/afghan-debacle-shattered-establishments-expertise-mystique\/"},"modified":"2021-08-17T03:05:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T00:05:22","slug":"afghan-debacle-shattered-establishments-expertise-mystique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/afghan-debacle-shattered-establishments-expertise-mystique\/","title":{"rendered":"#Afghan debacle shattered establishment&#8217;s &#8216;expertise&#8217; mystique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Afghan debacle shattered establishment&#8217;s &#8216;expertise&#8217; mystique<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>When\u00a0President Biden \u00adaddressed the nation on Monday, he was admirably clear-eyed about the reason for leaving Afghanistan: US forces had killed Osama bin Laden long ago. America should have sought no more than to find and kill him and neutralize al Qaeda \u2014 not to will liberal democracy into existence in a country that has rarely enjoyed a stable central government at any point in the last 2,000 years.<\/p>\n<p>As a rhetorical intervention, it was very successful. (One friend suggested to me that Biden might have given the exact same speech when he finally cut off his son Hunter\u2019s American Express card.) But it was also painfully self-exculpatory.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike his predecessor, Biden isn\u2019t a political outsider. He supported our presence in \u00adAfghanistan during his time in the Senate and was responsible for the conduct of the war as vice president for eight years. Indeed, the Obama campaign relentlessly touted Biden\u2019s supposed foreign-policy expertise in 2008. If Biden thought the whole enterprise was doomed from the start, why didn\u2019t he say so publicly at any point in the previous 20 years?<\/p>\n<p>Leaving Afghanistan was \u00adalways going to be a mess. Anyone who has been paying attention knew the Afghan military was nonfunctional. The corrupt hacks in the Kabul government were always going to flee to the comfort of university speaking circuits and cushy NGO gigs at the first sign of trouble.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/1234709370.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Taliban fighters standing guard at a road in Kabul on August 16, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-19149110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/1234709370.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/1234709370.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/1234709370.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/1234709370.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Taliban fighters standing guard at a road in Kabul on August 16, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But did it have to look like\u00a0<em>this<\/em>? Even late last week, administration officials were confident that the Taliban weren\u2019t going to wind up in control of the capital, certainly not within a matter of days. Biden was on vacation. The most pressing question for the administration was foisting a nonscientific mask policy on the vaccinated adult population.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> conference following Biden\u2019s speech, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby dismissed concerns from reporters \u2014 who for once are as incredulous as the average American \u2014 as \u201cMonday-morning quarterbacking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is condescending gibberish. It is also an absurd analogy. A Monday-morning quarterback is a schlub in a Cheeto-stained jersey who thinks he knows better than his favorite team\u2019s coaches. To be a Monday-morning QB, you have to be objecting to a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> plan.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/john-kirby.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"said that reproters were \u201cMonday-morning quarterbacking\u201d with questions about the situation.\" class=\"wp-image-19149091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/john-kirby.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/john-kirby.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/john-kirby.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said that reporters were \u201cMonday-morning quarterbacking\u201d with questions about the situation.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Forgive me for not seeing any evidence of a plan here. Was it part of anybody\u2019s master plan to leave the Taliban billions of dollars in weapons, helicopters and bases as a host gift? Was it a masterpiece of strategy to publish an <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arently old photo of Biden speaking to CIA agents to give the impression that the president was firmly in control? Whose idea was it to withdraw air support before we had gotten both our own civilian personnel and thousands of our Afghan allies out of the country?<\/p>\n<p>Also: Did the administration\u2019s direct line to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> not address the question of whether the Taliban should be able to spread propaganda via a platform from which Biden\u2019s predecessor (and, briefly, this newspaper) have been banned?<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan has long been the graveyard of empires. It should now be the final resting place for one of our hoariest myths: the so-called \u201cadults in the room,\u201d \u00adalluded to over and over during the 2020 presidential election and throughout Donald Trump\u2019s presidency. This is the absurd idea that the US elite \u2014 in the Pentagon, the intel services, the professions, the universities, the media, Big Business \u2014 are not only more virtuous and self-effacing than the people they lord over, they are also more competent.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-1-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"People attempting to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to try to flee Afghanistan on August 16, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-19149099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-1-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-1-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-1-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>People attempting to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to try to flee Afghanistan on August 16, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Str\/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"People clinging to an Air Force plane as it takes off from Kabul on August 16, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-19149105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/kabul-airport-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>People clinging to an Air Force plane as it takes off from Kabul on August 16, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Verified UGC via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The chaotic images of the last few days have put paid to this nonsense. The withdrawal wasn\u2019t a sober exercise. It was a bunch of glorified Teen Vogue editorial \u00adinterns realizing in the horror of an instant that woke tweets from the US embassy weren\u2019t going to persuade a machine-gun-wielding militia to respect Western ideas about human rights. Confronted with their failures, they either \u00addeflect or, like the normally voluble White House press secretary Jen Psaki, announce that they are \u201cout of the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This shouldn\u2019t be surprising. These are the same feckless elites who shrugged their shoulders as NAFTA destroyed American industry, as hundreds of thousands of Americans overdosed on drugs, as we lost ground to China and became a nation of obese screen addicts.<\/p>\n<p>Over and over again our leaders refuse to accept blame. If Biden\u2019s speech is any indication, they are not ready to do so this time, either.<\/p>\n<p><em>Matthew Walther is editor of The Lamp magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Twitter: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matthewwalther\">@MatthewWalther<\/a><\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/16\/afghan-debacle-shattered-establishments-expertise-mystique\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Afghan debacle shattered establishment&#8217;s &#8216;expertise&#8217; mystique&#8221; When\u00a0President Biden \u00adaddressed the nation on Monday, he was admirably clear-eyed about the reason for leaving Afghanistan: US forces had killed Osama bin Laden long ago. America should have sought no more than to find and kill him and neutralize al Qaeda \u2014 not to will liberal democracy into&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/biden-afghanistan-3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[114327,72315,991,72318],"class_list":["post-326250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-8-16-21","tag-afghanistan","tag-joe-biden","tag-taliban"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}