Charles Cooke of National Review Online ponders the nation’s current predicament.
President Biden has not spoken to a single world leader since Kabul fell to the Taliban.
I’m confused as to which part of the “America is back” philosophy this decision represents. In Britain, the prime minister is recalling Parliament. In France, the president is trying to rally the U.N. And President Biden is . . . doing nothing at Camp David.
In February, Biden said, “I know the past few years have strained and tested the transatlantic relationship. The United States is determined to reengage with Europe, to consult with you, to earn back our position of trusted leadership.” In June, he said, “America’s back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values”; “I think we’ve made some progress in re-establishing American credibility among our closest friends”; “the lack of participation in the past and full engagement was noticed significantly.”
As opposed to this new, fresh approach, which is warming everyone’s hearts.
Cooke’s comments remind this observer of a recent critique of Joe Biden’s supposed extensive preparation for the most powerful position in any government.
President Joe Biden’s foreign policy chops have been tested and his administration’s reputation for policy precision questioned after the Afghan government’s implosion.
Biden and his aides are being criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for the United States’s botched exit from Afghanistan after hundreds of Afghans, including allies, descended on Kabul’s international airport, the only way out of the country and away from a potentially vengeful Taliban regime.
The fall of U.S.-backed Afghanistan is immensely problematic for Biden, according to political analyst Dan Schnur, a Republican-turned-independent at the University of California. Not solely because of the policy and geopolitical ramifications, Schnur said, but because it also undermines Biden’s standing as a president who understands the federal government and wanted to rebuild U.S. credibility overseas.
“It’s a lot harder for him to make those cases now, and it will harm him politically,” he told the Washington Examiner.
