Two Trump Failures to Never Forget

This is a Man of Many Flaws. Two Cited Here Infuse All The Others

Recent Reminders

Two matters are in the news a great deal of late, one called up by the Trump, the other inflicted by Trump. Both highlight what an unworthy person this is.

The Afghanistan Withdrawal

Trump has tried mightily to blame Biden for a terrible withdrawal from Afghanistan. He has done so with some success. Biden’s public ratings took a beating after the withdrawal and never fully recovered. But the fact is, as we shall discuss momentarily, that this lies squarely on Trump’s shoulders, as we shall detail momentarily. But first, a few notes on the nature of such withdrawals throughout history.

The bruising reality of such withdrawals are that they are always messy and painful. Almost inevitably, there is an element of chaos and some good people are left behind. In most cases, an incapable host government fails to keep the nation running or the enemy held at bay.

I remember when the final days in Afghanistan were beginning, I found myself thinking, “Oh, no. Here goes Saigon all over again.” And so it was. Watching people begging at the gates to get in or clinging to aircraft as they took off was heart breaking. Thinking of how bad a returning Taliban government would be was crushing. In fact, that government has been even worse than was feared, and seems to get worse daily.

Biden and the US government (especially the military and the intelligence services) did pretty well all that could be done, given the cards they were dealt. An amazing number of people did get out, and many are settling into new lives in the US and elsewhere. But not enough of those we wished to help.

Why Is This Trump’s Fault?

Let me count the ways.

• First, Trump engaged in secret negotiations with the Taliban. Most of the U.S. government and the government of Afghanistan had no participation in the talks and no input.
• Second, Trump’s deal essentially was to commit to a quick and early US withdrawal. If the Taliban would leave us alone as we withdrew, Trump pledged no further engagements by US forces and no support to the Afghan government as it tried to defend itself. As word got out about this, the domestic collapse in Afghanistan began in short order.
• Third, U.S. forces were drawn down to a piddling number. By the time Biden took office there were only 2,500 American troops on the ground. That was not enough to even secure one airport, much less reach out and transport people from around the country.
• Fourth, Trump dictated the most shameful transition between two Administrations in our history. The incoming team had about zero information as to the current situation or relevant background until they were sworn in on January 20^th.

So, when Biden took the oath of office, he had merely weeks until the withdrawal deadline Trump had set, a handful of troops on the ground, and a rapidly collapsing Afghan government. His choices were basically to complete the withdrawal as best it could be done, or stop the withdrawal, do a massive influx of troops and restart the war. The latter option was not very realistic and would have had no support among Americans or the Congress.

Trump owns this thing lock, stock and barrel, and should be specifically called out for it. I fully expect he will mention the withdrawal at the upcoming debate. I hope Harris calls him out on these specific points.

I Didn’t Know Anything About That

How often have we heard Trump say something like that? It wasn’t me, I don’t know anything about that, someone else must have done that. He said that often, and completely unbelievably, about Project 2025, when he realized how appalled people are when they learn of this thing.

More recently, he said this about the fouling of sacred ground with his political stunt at Arlington National Cemetery. Again, a completely unbelievable denial of responsibility. Anyone who has spent any time at Arlington knows the rules, especially those who have participated in official duties. There is zero doubt his team was specifically briefed on the rules and why those rules exist. They blew them off for a cheap campaign benefit, because the law and the rules don’t apply to them in their minds.

Over and above the shameful contact at Arlington, we should keep in mind the fact that Trump never admits a mistake and never takes responsibility for anything that goes wrong. Remember when he was asked about asking for divine forgiveness years ago and he replied that he had no need, as he had never done anything wrong? Who thinks that way? Take that mindset, match it up with an “Only I can fix things” mentality and you have all the ingredients for an immoral and disastrous tyranny. That is exactly what he offers in the 2024 election.

America settles this discussion in 63 days. May we have the wisdom to exile this guy once and for all to history and give him all the time he needs  to address his indictments by five different grand juries of his fellow citizens.

See you next week. Unless events dictate otherwise, I am planning to launch a little tongue in cheek edition in the next blog post, somewhat in the style of the Borowitz Report, a fun bit of sarcasm many of you know well (if not, take a sample look: https://www.borowitzreport.com  Some sample titles: Vance Attacks Cats Who Do Not Have Kittens, Nation Cruelly Reminded of Existence of Tulsi Gabbard, Trump Backs Out of Debate by Claiming He Died in Helicopter Crash, Entire Kennedy Family Changes Last Name

Bill Clontz

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