The American withdrawal from Afghanistan was one of the worst military debacles since Publius Quinctilius Varus ordered his men to march through the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD, assuring them, “Don’t worry, boys, there’s not a German within a hundred leagues of here.” One of the worst mistakes in this entire Charlie Foxtrot was the abandonment of Bagram Air Base, which forced the remaining personnel to withdraw from the commercial airport in Kabul; Bagram, not Kabul, was a secure base and would have been the more logical place to evacuate from. But the Biden administration claimed that a Taliban takeover was not inevitable, arguing:
Asked if he sees any parallels between the withdrawals from Vietnam Afghanistan, Biden responds, “None whatsoever. Zero. … The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”
It was comparable. In the final stages of the evacuation, it was, if anything, worse than the Vietnam withdrawal. We saw panicking parents trying to pass infants over a wall to the U.S. Marines; you saw people desperately clinging to and then falling from transport aircraft. Thirteen Americans died. We left behind billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment, abandoning it to the Taliban, who once more rule Afghanistan as though all our efforts there were for naught. The people of Afghanistan, many of whom supported our troops, worked with them, and interpreted for them, were left behind to live once more under the boot of Bronze-Age barbarians.
Now, White House spokesdroid John Kirby, remarking on comments by American veterans of that conflict, said on the anniversary of 9/11 of all days that there was “no use in responding.”
On the anniversary of 9/11, White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby dismissed the concerns of military veterans critical of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, writing in response to a Fox News Digital press inquiry that there’s “no use” weighing in on the veterans’ views.
“Obviously no use in responding. A ‘handful’ of vets indeed and all of one stripe,” Kirby said in a “reply all” email chain Wednesday afternoon that appeared to be intended for White House staffers, but which also included Fox News Digital.
What stripe would that be, Mr. Kirby? What do you mean by that? I suppose there’s “no use in responding” to those questions, either.
This is a totally unacceptable dismissal of the legitimate concerns of four of our nation’s veterans, rightly critical of this botched operation. We can argue all day long about the idea of forever wars (I’m not a fan) and our involvement in third-world feces-holes like Afghanistan all day, but the fact remains that we were there, there was a negotiated withdrawal, and the Biden administration screwed it up. Our nation’s servicemen and women deserve to have some questions answered, and supposedly John Kirby is the guy who should be answering them.
As it happens, none of us were intended to see this embarrassing little remark from this embarrassing little man. Just as the Biden administration screwed up the Afghanistan withdrawal, so did John Kirby screw up by hitting “Reply All” on an email chain.
Fox News Digital had reached out to the White House earlier Wednesday afternoon regarding critical comments from four veterans, including Florida Rep. Cory Mills, who blasted Kirby for his Monday press conference that they said provided “cover” for the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal.
Included in that initial reachout were quotes from the four veterans, and Fox News Digital asked the White House if it had any comment to include on the vets’ blistering criticisms of Kirby and the White House’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. The email chain was forwarded to White House staffers on the National Security Council, before Kirby replied to all on the chain that there’s “no use in responding.”
No use in responding. These are the concerns of people who wore our country’s uniform, who stood ready to go in harm’s way to protect America, our citizens, and our Constitution, and John Kirby thinks there’s no use in responding. What a piece of… work.
See Related: Shadowy National Security Group Tries to Absolve Harris of Responsibility for Afghanistan and Fails
Man Responsible for Deceiving America on Afghanistan Claims House Afghanistan Report Deceives America
Decorum, good manners, and editorial standards prohibit me from saying what I honestly think of John Kirby at the moment. But I’m sure most of you have a pretty good idea.
