Biden insists disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal not a mistake

Political observers from both sides of the aisle have long suggested that the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was the turning point at which Joe Biden's downward slide began, but according to revelations from a new book, the president himself does not believe the pullout was a “mistake,” as the New York Post reports.

Biden's controversial assessment comes by way of Politico reporter Alexander Ward's forthcoming volume, The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.

No resignations, no problem

In the years that have followed the catastrophic U.S. military retreat, critics have expressed outrage that none of the high-ranking officials involved in decision-making at the time resigned or were fired.

According to Ward, however, “no one offered to resign” in the wake of the withdrawal for the simple reason that “the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake.”

Ward explained in the book, “Ending the war was always going to be messy.”

As such, “Biden told his top aides...that he stood by them, and they had done their best during a tough situation.”

“There wasn't even a real possibility of a shake-up,” one administration official is said to have told Ward.

Outrage lingers

Despite Biden's apparent convictions about the necessity and propriety of what occurred, government findings released last year revealed serious problems with the manner in which American troops were hastily pulled out of Afghanistan.

There has also been no shortage of criticism from Republicans who believe that resignations and firings should have happened in the immediate aftermath of a bombing that airport in Kabul during the withdrawal that left 13 U.S. servicemembers dead.

In the wake of the aforementioned findings of fault, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) took aim at the president's apparently clear conscience, saying, “If Biden is so proud of what he claims is his mistake-free performance in Afghanistan, he should say it to the nation.”

“Better yet, let him face the Gold Star families he still refuses to invite to the White House,” the congressman added.

Those sentiments were echoed by Darin Hoover, father of one of the soldiers killed in Kabul, who lamented that in the wake of the tragic events, “nobody laid down their stars, none of the generals did. Nobody threatened to resign. Nothing. And at this point, honestly...there's some things that I wanna get off my chest and let the senile commander in chief know how I really feel.”