Last week’s terrorist attack in Kabul which killed 13 US troops has invigorated the Taliban, President Joe Biden, and the Republican Party — all for very different reasons.
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A double suicide bomb attack in Kabul last Thursday left 13 members of the US military and 72 Afghan civilians dead. The Taliban, which now controls Afghanistan, launched the attack as revenge against the US military for evacuating scores of Afghan citizens (many of whom had betrayed the Taliban and worked in conjunction with the US government to defeat the terrorist organization) and for indirectly depleting the Afghan population.
The US had been evacuating its citizens (and Afghani allies) from Kabul on regular flights almost every 30 minutes. However, once the Taliban realized its own citizens were slipping through the cracks and escaping Taliban rule, they slowed down the evacuation process and retaliated by killing US soldiers.
Interestingly, the situation in Afghanistan has since become a win-win for the Taliban, President Biden, and the GOP. Let’s take a look at the details:
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THE TALIBAN
The US State Department attempted to negotiate with the Taliban to extend the August 31st deadline for all US citizens to be out of Afghanistan. However, the Taliban abruptly denied the request and threatened to kill anyone who was left behind. As an exclamation point to their threat, they launched a dual bombing attack that killed more than a dozen US citizens and Afghan civilians.
From the perspective of the Taliban, this was a success story. The bombing showed Afghani citizens and the rest of the world that the terrorist group is powerful and in complete control. It also displayed a hard-nosed mentality that they should never be mistaken as a pushover by world leaders.
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THE GOP
“It’s not a day for politics,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on the day of the bombing. However, Republicans were already licking their chops and salivating at how they could use the situation in Kabul to their political advantage.
For months, the GOP has struggled to find a way to successfully diminish President Biden among US voters. Now, they smell blood and have already begun pushing the narrative that Mr. Biden doesn’t have “the right stuff” and, because of his advanced age, is cognitively incompetent to command this or any other emergency situation that a US president might face.
“The Republicans can certainly gain some ground on this one, and the American public seems pretty upset with what’s going on, so Republicans are likely to gain some traction if they use this against him,” said Monika McDermott, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York.
However, “There’s a danger in using the deaths of American military personnel in this way, but it’s his main weakness at this point,” she added.
In a “tit-for-tat” response to the 2 impeachments Democrats secured against Donald Trump, Republicans are eager to get revenge and to diminish President Biden for trouncing Trump at the polls last November. They’ve already made calls for Mr. Biden to resign and have suggested they would seek to impeach him if only they had the numbers in Congress to succeed (they don’t).
Still, in a small victory for Republicans, Mr. Biden’s approval rating has dipped below 50% for the first time since becoming president.
According to a USA Today-Suffolk University survey released last Tuesday, 41% now approve of the job the president is doing, while 55% of respondents disapprove — although those numbers are likely related to the ongoing COVID crisis and not the Kabul bombing.
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THE PRESIDENT
“To those who carried out these attacks today – as well as anyone who wishes America harm – know this: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
That is the powerful threat President Biden delivered to the Taliban following their deadly bombing attack in Kabul. Mr. Biden then kept his word and launched a strategic military strike, killing 2 Islamic State militants who were planning more terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
The president warned that further strikes were imminent if the Taliban refused to back down and allow the US to evacuate its citizens in a timely and safe manner.
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“We will not be dissuaded from the task at hand. To do anything less — especially now — would dishonor the purpose and sacrifice these men and women have rendered our country and the people of Afghanistan.” – Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III
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After Mr. Biden seemingly botched the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan, the bombing in Kabul by the Taliban couldn’t have been a greater political gift to him. The terrorist attack has since created a national enemy that US citizens could target, while the deaths of the 13 US service members have provided a path for Americans to declare their patriotism.
America has a long-standing tradition of getting behind its commander-in-chief during acts of war. By launching an immediate strike against a terrorist enemy responsible for killing Americans, Mr. Biden successfully stopped the political bleeding on his failed Afghanistan withdrawal and, at least in principle, forced Republicans and other Americans to get behind him as a unified nation against a terrorist enemy.
For me the heartbreaking question I’m left with is this:
13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians died….for what?
For nothing. They died for nothing.