Our British friends aren’t too happy about the humanitarian crisis mounting amid President Joe Biden’s untimely Afghanistan pullout — and it appears they’re determined to let the world know all about it.
It began with the headline that broke Aug. 18: Parliament had elected to hold Biden in contempt for obstructing their processes amid the chaos.
Now, Tory members of Parliament are blasting Biden for his incompetence that endangered not only Afghans and Americans stranded behind enemy lines but also some of their own.
“The UK government is now in a race against time to airlift nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other staff who worked for Britain out of Kabul amid a growing backlash at Joe Biden over his decision to stick to his August 31 withdrawal deadline,” the U.K. Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
The outlet said these interpreters have already cleared the Taliban’s security checks and are eligible to go home but now sit waiting at the Kabul airport.
They are some among the 10,000 people the Pentagon says are waiting for a flight out of the destabilized nation.
It isn’t an image any of us wants to see after we — and our allies — invested 20 years trying to make progress in Afghanistan.
But Biden’s growing list of horrifying decisions is egging on his critics — and for good reason.
Some MPs joined in the chorus of relentless criticism coming from us here in the U.S., condemning the president’s refusal to extend the exit date for U.S. forces because Washington maintains that “an extension would leave troops at too great a risk of attack from the Taliban or Isis,” in the words of the Daily Mail.
In response to this refusal, some Tory MPs are questioning Biden’s “intellectual fitness.”
One even called him “gaga.”
Biden is taking heat from both sides of the pond, of course.
Domestically, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has proven to be one of his most vocal critics.
“He turned his back and walked away — an image that has come to define him and his presidency,” McCarthy said during a Wednesday media briefing, according to the New York Post.
“He turned his back on our own citizens stranded in Afghanistan, he’s turned our back on our allies and partners, he’s turned his back on his duties as commander in chief.”
And to make matters worse for the inept administration, the Daily Mail pointed out the fact that Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemingly blamed Americans for not leaving Afghanistan “fast enough” after being told to evacuate previously.
“For many years we have urged Americans not to travel there. We’ve repeatedly asked Americans who are in Afghanistan to enroll [at the Kabul Embassy],” he said.
“And since March of this year, we’ve sent 19 separate messages to Americans enrolled in the embassy, encouraging them and then urging them to leave the country. We’ve even made clear we would pay for their repatriation.”
But, as we’ve heard from Biden himself, he maintains that the poorly executed withdrawal was still a good idea, even going so far as saying he believes history will show in his favor.
It’s everyone’s fault but his, right?
Now our British allies are near the end of their evacuation missions, and the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab asserts the country’s officials are working “as fast as [they] can” to ensure they can evacuate as many Britons as possible.
Meanwhile, criticism from MPs still rages.
“If this does destroy Biden’s presidency, you have to question his fitness for the role,” MP Bob Seely told the Daily Mail.
“You have got to question Trump’s moral fitness for the role, but you have got to address Biden’s intellectual fitness and health fitness for the role.
“I’m sorry, he is just gaga … he doesn’t have a grip. How many slip-ups before people think, yep, he can’t do the job.”
Another searing criticism from Parliament came from MP Tom Tugendhat, a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.
An extraordinary and moving speech from veteran MP Tom Tugendhat, with very harsh words for President Biden on Afghanistan
“To see their commander in chief call into question the courage of men I fought with, is shameful.” pic.twitter.com/ZgEEHwD9MI
— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) August 18, 2021
“[The connection to Afghanistan] links us also to our European partners, to our European neighbors and to our international friends,” he said.
“And so it is with great sadness that I now criticize one of them. Because I was never prouder than when I was decorated by the 82nd Airborne after the capture of Musa Qala. It was a huge privilege.
“To see their commander in chief call into question the courage of men I fought with, to claim that they ran, is shameful.”
He ended on a powerful note, saying, “Those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have.”
Our British friends have every right to express their disdain for Biden’s decisions.
They — and our other allies now scrambling to complete rescue missions (e.g. the French) — served by our side for the duration of our presence in the country.
They have proven themselves loyal allies — dependable and tenacious.
And yet Biden turns his back on the media, just like he turned his back on the veterans of this 20-year conflict and the people left behind in the Taliban’s wake.