Posted on 08/19/2021 12:46:49 PM PDT by Signalman
While addressing the American people on Monday, President Joe Biden said the “buck stops with me” with regard to the Taliban’s alarming takeover of Afghanistan amid the U.S. military’s withdrawal. Then he went on spreading blame to everyone but himself, including former President Donald Trump.
But Biden’s blame-game tactic appears to have failed, even among members of his own party.
Democratic lawmakers this week turned on the president over his botched handling of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and are demanding answers from his administration, the Hill reported.
What are they saying? One Democratic member of Congress, who remained anonymous in order to speak candidly, told the outlet, “I am bewildered and frustrated and, privately talking to a lot of House Democrats, they feel the same thing.”
“The scenes are just brutal and there is no excuse for just how badly State or the Defense Department or both completely bungled the evacuations and getting folks out,” the lawmaker fumed. “Someone was really asleep at the switch.”
“I do want to know who was responsible. Where was the ball dropped? Because that person needs to be held accountable,” the lawmaker added. “At least one person, or a group of people, screwed up so bad that it’s fireable.”
The Hill reported that a similar sentiment is shared by several in the Democratic caucus, with many desiring to see people within the administration held responsible.
“It is imperative that the administration provide the American people and Congress transparency about its Afghanistan strategy,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
Meeks announced on Tuesday that his committee would soon be holding hearings on the Afghanistan debacle, during which Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will be called to testify.
Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee agreed. The committee, led by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), vowed this week to investigate the administration’s withdrawal for “policy execution and intelligence failures.”
In a blistering statement, Menendez said that “Congress was told repeatedly that the Afghan Defense and Security Forces were up to the task, that it had the troops, equipment and willingness to fight. To see this army dissolve so quickly after billions of dollars in U.S. support is astounding. The American and Afghan people clearly have not been told the truth.”
What else? Ahead of Biden’s speech, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (Texas) tweeted: “There’s no way to hide it. The situation in Afghanistan is another shame on this admin. Withdrawal was never going to be easy but it didn’t need to come to this. The US must do everything in its power to help our partners & allies to safety & protect our national security.”
According to the Hill, several other Democratic members were just as severe:
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) has described the situation as a “disaster” that was “avoidable.” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said he was “disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid U.S. withdrawal.”
Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) called what was happening a “catastrophe.” Writing in Foreign Policy, Langevin, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, complained that “this negligence was par for the course for the last administration. I am disappointed to see it now.”
Chaotic scenes showing Afghan residents dangling from departing U.S. planes in an attempt to flee the country have shocked the world in recent days. Some fell hundreds of feet to their deaths. Others may have died while clinging to a plane’s landing gear. Afghan women, anticipating harsh treatment under the new regime, have been left to despair over their new reality.
Thousands of U.S. troops were rushed back to the Kabul airport in Afghanistan to ensure that scores of American citizens and Afghan translators could be evacuated.
It’s the result of Taliban forces sweeping Afghanistan with stunning speed and wresting control over the country, an outcome Biden called “highly unlikely” only days ago.
The fiasco is perhaps the administration’s greatest setback yet. One that, for now, appears to have reset the political landscape.
Was this the plan all along? The plan to install Harris or perhaps Pelosi in the Presidency?
Meh, lip service. Faux concern by Dems to try to shore up their base for 2022. It’s all about keeping power.
The families are starting to call the Congressional offices—Congress is being held hostage right now...
They _own_ this.
A fish rots from the head down.
Head fake so they can get Biden out and the Communists in.
Van Jones is probably going to be “Heals” Chief of Staff
“One Democratic member of Congress, who remained anonymous in order to speak candidly”
That’s very telling about how nasty the democrats are.
Also, as far as getting to the bottom of this crappy mess....I won’t hold my breath I’ll just continue to pray for those in harms way.
The people that placed Biden in the whitehouse need to be ARRESTED!
That includes a lot of republicans, the FBI, the CIA and of course Pelosi and the Democrats!
They all deserve to be hung!
The WOKE military leaders need to be hung also!
What a bunch of eternal assholes!
THIS REGIME NEEDS TO BE KICKED OUT!
Words without action. These sound more like looking for a scapegoat than pinning blame where it belongs: on the entire team from the top down.
Yes but Biden screwed up way too soon. He was unable to give the illusion he was competent first. He has always been an incompetent buffoon. Now he is an incompetent buffoon with dementia and the nuclear football.
Harris is on her way to Vietnam - she won't be coming back.
Pelosi it is.
Democrats live in a media bubble so secure that they think their own $#*+ doesn’t stink. When they discover that it actually does, they all want to grandstand and point fingers.
“I do want to know who was responsible. Where was the ball dropped? Because that person needs to be held accountable,”
All they’re asking is for some scapegoat, to be appeased. Maybe Milley, maybe just some hapless subordinate of his.
Nope...don’t trust Democrats.
She's defecting to a more democratic government?
VP Harris has left the Titanic. She’s gone half way round the world.
“A well-placed source inside the White House informs Becker News that Kamala objected to addressing the nation on Sunday. The source reports that Harris could be heard screaming, “They will not pin this shit on me!”
Democrats are accessories to murder for allowing Biden to remain in office.
They KNEW he wasn’t fit for office and did NOTHING!
This may have been the plan because Democrats never fix anything and just create more problems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.