Biden to address the nation at 3:45pm

[GeneralMacArthur]

Jesus, I'm watching CNN waiting for this and it's like I'm watching Fox News.  Just incredibly loaded language and relentless attacks on Biden coming from Jake Tapper.

I’ve never seen the media be so out of touch. Not like this

Sure, this is really bad. And it’s news worthy. But 99% of Americans do not care and the media has gone nuts

I've been thinking about the Afghan people all day. I have an Afghan coworker who has family still there and was so visibly and painfully devastated today.

The president made the right decision in leaving.

He clearly didn't rush people out because he thought a panic would cause a quicker collapse and didn't realize the weakness of the corrupt Ghani regime or that the Afghan "army" would immediately sell out the people they were charged with defending. America cannot force a country to defend itself at immense moral and financial cost.

Now we need to get as many people out of that hellhole as possible - particularly women and kids.

This is the moment for Americans and all free people to demand Afghan refugees be allowed entry, and to show the world our superior sense of charity to the violent, stupid zealots.

If I were Biden, I'd open up the gates right now and let 'em in. Say "America first, not America alone." This is civic nationalism and diplomacy at its best.

Even as an immigration hawk, I agree. We ruined their country and it's the least we can do.

I appreciate you saying that. This isn't about whether or not more immigration is a good idea. It's about what we owe as compensation to the Afghan people. We made this possible so it's on us to try and make it right.

Afghanistan has a population of 40,000,000 people.  We're not going to let all the Afghan people who want to leave come here.

We didn't "ruin their country."  The Taliban was running the country when we arrived!  The years of USA occupation were by far the best Afghanistan has ever been, so why have we "ruined their country" by leaving?

They ruined their own country.  They refuse to stand up and fight against the Taliban.  We left them with 300,000 well-armed, well-trained troops and they just collapsed and surrendered.  They don't care.  There are too many Afghans, especially higher-up, who just want the Taliban.  So that's what they're going to get.

We could absolutely resettle 1 mil+ Afghans. You underrate America's state capacity. At the very least, the friends and extended family of the government, military, and all institutions that bet on America deserve to move here.

Why should we resettle 1,000,000 Afghans.  We gave them the means to defend their own country.

We don't owe them anything.  The Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan is just returning to the status quo from before we arrived.  That's not our fault.

[7,052,770]

Even my Trumpist friends are admitting it was a very strong and thoughtful speech. Congrats Joe and America!

[OSR stands with Israel]

Jake Tapper said opposing the handling of this withdrawal doesn't mean opposing withdrawal in general

[7,052,770]

Jake Tapper said opposing the handling of this withdrawal doesn't mean opposing withdrawal in general

Maybe not in theory, but anyone who thought it could go any better just doesn't have a good grasp on Afghanistan.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Jesus, I'm watching CNN waiting for this and it's like I'm watching Fox News.  Just incredibly loaded language and relentless attacks on Biden coming from Jake Tapper.

I’ve never seen the media be so out of touch. Not like this

Sure, this is really bad. And it’s news worthy. But 99% of Americans do not care and the media has gone nuts

I've been thinking about the Afghan people all day. I have an Afghan coworker who has family still there and was so visibly and painfully devastated today.

The president made the right decision in leaving.

He clearly didn't rush people out because he thought a panic would cause a quicker collapse and didn't realize the weakness of the corrupt Ghani regime or that the Afghan "army" would immediately sell out the people they were charged with defending. America cannot force a country to defend itself at immense moral and financial cost.

Now we need to get as many people out of that hellhole as possible - particularly women and kids.

This is the moment for Americans and all free people to demand Afghan refugees be allowed entry, and to show the world our superior sense of charity to the violent, stupid zealots.

If I were Biden, I'd open up the gates right now and let 'em in. Say "America first, not America alone." This is civic nationalism and diplomacy at its best.

Even as an immigration hawk, I agree. We ruined their country and it's the least we can do.

I appreciate you saying that. This isn't about whether or not more immigration is a good idea. It's about what we owe as compensation to the Afghan people. We made this possible so it's on us to try and make it right.

Afghanistan has a population of 40,000,000 people.  We're not going to let all the Afghan people who want to leave come here.

We didn't "ruin their country."  The Taliban was running the country when we arrived!  The years of USA occupation were by far the best Afghanistan has ever been, so why have we "ruined their country" by leaving?

They ruined their own country.  They refuse to stand up and fight against the Taliban.  We left them with 300,000 well-armed, well-trained troops and they just collapsed and surrendered.  They don't care.  There are too many Afghans, especially higher-up, who just want the Taliban.  So that's what they're going to get.

We could absolutely resettle 1 mil+ Afghans. You underrate America's state capacity. At the very least, the friends and extended family of the government, military, and all institutions that bet on America deserve to move here.

Why should we resettle 1,000,000 Afghans.  We gave them the means to defend their own country.

We really didn't. We paid and supported corrupt leaders who didn't pay soldiers (and is some cases lied about soldiers even existing). We gave them no tanks, and no self-mobile artillery. We taught them to fight with air support, gave them an air force that was maintained by contractors,  and then pulled out all the contractors. Whining that the Afghani military, such as we made it, declined to stand and die for our fleeting political advantage should be beneath us.

[Storr]

Jesus, I'm watching CNN waiting for this and it's like I'm watching Fox News.  Just incredibly loaded language and relentless attacks on Biden coming from Jake Tapper.

I’ve never seen the media be so out of touch. Not like this

Sure, this is really bad. And it’s news worthy. But 99% of Americans do not care and the media has gone nuts

I've been thinking about the Afghan people all day. I have an Afghan coworker who has family still there and was so visibly and painfully devastated today.

The president made the right decision in leaving.

He clearly didn't rush people out because he thought a panic would cause a quicker collapse and didn't realize the weakness of the corrupt Ghani regime or that the Afghan "army" would immediately sell out the people they were charged with defending. America cannot force a country to defend itself at immense moral and financial cost.

Now we need to get as many people out of that hellhole as possible - particularly women and kids.

This is the moment for Americans and all free people to demand Afghan refugees be allowed entry, and to show the world our superior sense of charity to the violent, stupid zealots.

If I were Biden, I'd open up the gates right now and let 'em in. Say "America first, not America alone." This is civic nationalism and diplomacy at its best.

Even as an immigration hawk, I agree. We ruined their country and it's the least we can do.

I appreciate you saying that. This isn't about whether or not more immigration is a good idea. It's about what we owe as compensation to the Afghan people. We made this possible so it's on us to try and make it right.

Afghanistan has a population of 40,000,000 people.  We're not going to let all the Afghan people who want to leave come here.

We didn't "ruin their country."  The Taliban was running the country when we arrived!  The years of USA occupation were by far the best Afghanistan has ever been, so why have we "ruined their country" by leaving?

They ruined their own country.  They refuse to stand up and fight against the Taliban.  We left them with 300,000 well-armed, well-trained troops and they just collapsed and surrendered.  They don't care.  There are too many Afghans, especially higher-up, who just want the Taliban.  So that's what they're going to get.

We could absolutely resettle 1 mil+ Afghans. You underrate America's state capacity. At the very least, the friends and extended family of the government, military, and all institutions that bet on America deserve to move here.

The US resettled 1,287,399 Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians, 883,317 being Vietnamese, from 1975-1997 (the vast majority being resettled in the 70s and 80s).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochina_refugee_crisis#Indochinese_resettled_and_repatriated

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

State Department spokesman says we will be taking care of vulnerable Afghans.

[ultraviolet]

Withdrawal good, execution bad, speech good

Let in the refugees now!

[afleitch]

In terms of US foreign, that speech was genuinely historic.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Jesus, I'm watching CNN waiting for this and it's like I'm watching Fox News.  Just incredibly loaded language and relentless attacks on Biden coming from Jake Tapper.

I’ve never seen the media be so out of touch. Not like this

Sure, this is really bad. And it’s news worthy. But 99% of Americans do not care and the media has gone nuts

I've been thinking about the Afghan people all day. I have an Afghan coworker who has family still there and was so visibly and painfully devastated today.

The president made the right decision in leaving.

He clearly didn't rush people out because he thought a panic would cause a quicker collapse and didn't realize the weakness of the corrupt Ghani regime or that the Afghan "army" would immediately sell out the people they were charged with defending. America cannot force a country to defend itself at immense moral and financial cost.

Now we need to get as many people out of that hellhole as possible - particularly women and kids.

This is the moment for Americans and all free people to demand Afghan refugees be allowed entry, and to show the world our superior sense of charity to the violent, stupid zealots.

If I were Biden, I'd open up the gates right now and let 'em in. Say "America first, not America alone." This is civic nationalism and diplomacy at its best.

Even as an immigration hawk, I agree. We ruined their country and it's the least we can do.

I appreciate you saying that. This isn't about whether or not more immigration is a good idea. It's about what we owe as compensation to the Afghan people. We made this possible so it's on us to try and make it right.

Afghanistan has a population of 40,000,000 people.  We're not going to let all the Afghan people who want to leave come here.

We didn't "ruin their country."  The Taliban was running the country when we arrived!  The years of USA occupation were by far the best Afghanistan has ever been, so why have we "ruined their country" by leaving?

They ruined their own country.  They refuse to stand up and fight against the Taliban.  We left them with 300,000 well-armed, well-trained troops and they just collapsed and surrendered.  They don't care.  There are too many Afghans, especially higher-up, who just want the Taliban.  So that's what they're going to get.

We could absolutely resettle 1 mil+ Afghans. You underrate America's state capacity. At the very least, the friends and extended family of the government, military, and all institutions that bet on America deserve to move here.

Why should we resettle 1,000,000 Afghans.  We gave them the means to defend their own country.

We don't owe them anything.  The Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan is just returning to the status quo from before we arrived.  That's not our fault.

We owe it to the people and their associates that *bet on American success* and are therefore uniquely vulnerable to the Taliban because they *sided with America.* If we never went in in the first place, these people would be fine. We owe it to their families and their daughters to keep them safe. It's the same deal as the evacuation of South Vietnam. And, as Horus said, it's really good diplomacy. We choose to end a "humanitarian war" but keep the people we were ostensibly their to help safe by bringing them to America instead of bringing America to them. Besides, it won't cost us anything compared to the war as a whole. Why not help? We can and we should.

Or do you want to close our borders to refugees. Curious that *this* is the issue you take the Trump line on. I thought you wanted an America open to the world.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Jesus, I'm watching CNN waiting for this and it's like I'm watching Fox News.  Just incredibly loaded language and relentless attacks on Biden coming from Jake Tapper.

I’ve never seen the media be so out of touch. Not like this

Sure, this is really bad. And it’s news worthy. But 99% of Americans do not care and the media has gone nuts

I've been thinking about the Afghan people all day. I have an Afghan coworker who has family still there and was so visibly and painfully devastated today.

The president made the right decision in leaving.

He clearly didn't rush people out because he thought a panic would cause a quicker collapse and didn't realize the weakness of the corrupt Ghani regime or that the Afghan "army" would immediately sell out the people they were charged with defending. America cannot force a country to defend itself at immense moral and financial cost.

Now we need to get as many people out of that hellhole as possible - particularly women and kids.

This is the moment for Americans and all free people to demand Afghan refugees be allowed entry, and to show the world our superior sense of charity to the violent, stupid zealots.

If I were Biden, I'd open up the gates right now and let 'em in. Say "America first, not America alone." This is civic nationalism and diplomacy at its best.

Even as an immigration hawk, I agree. We ruined their country and it's the least we can do.

I appreciate you saying that. This isn't about whether or not more immigration is a good idea. It's about what we owe as compensation to the Afghan people. We made this possible so it's on us to try and make it right.

Afghanistan has a population of 40,000,000 people.  We're not going to let all the Afghan people who want to leave come here.

We didn't "ruin their country."  The Taliban was running the country when we arrived!  The years of USA occupation were by far the best Afghanistan has ever been, so why have we "ruined their country" by leaving?

They ruined their own country.  They refuse to stand up and fight against the Taliban.  We left them with 300,000 well-armed, well-trained troops and they just collapsed and surrendered.  They don't care.  There are too many Afghans, especially higher-up, who just want the Taliban.  So that's what they're going to get.

We could absolutely resettle 1 mil+ Afghans. You underrate America's state capacity. At the very least, the friends and extended family of the government, military, and all institutions that bet on America deserve to move here.

The US resettled 1,287,399 Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians, 883,317 being Vietnamese, from 1975-1997 (the vast majority being resettled in the 70s and 80s).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochina_refugee_crisis#Indochinese_resettled_and_repatriated

Exactly. And it was an unmitigated success. Doing this helped people when they needed it most and made our country stronger. They assimilated famously well. There's no downside.

[Crumpets]

I don't have much more to say than what's in these tweets:

https://twitter.com/glcarlstrom/status/1427371030557904901

[BlueSwan]

Joe Biden has good political instincts. The withdrawal was the right thing to do and sticking to it is politically wise. No backtracking.

[Senator Spark]

This has been a foreign policy disaster of epic proportions. Very Carter-esque.

[GeneralMacArthur]

The media really is just desperate for Biden to self-flagellate over this.  That's all they want.  They don't care about the situation on the ground.  It's all about the politics.

I'm watching the Pentagon briefing on CNN right now and all the questions are asking them to assign blame.  Whose fault is it that this screwed up?  And then you know if they don't say "it was all our fault because we suck" the media will accuse them of "finger-pointing" and "failing to take responsibility."

The truth is, the ANA was supposed to secure the airport, and they didn't, so a bunch of Afghan civilians just ran onto the airstrip and for a couple hours we couldn't land or take-off because they were just standing around and getting in the way of the planes.  So we sent more troops in there to secure it ourselves, doing the ANA's job for them, and now we're able to use it again.  But the press doesn't want to hear that.

[Podgy the Bear]

This has been a foreign policy disaster of epic proportions. Very Carter-esque.

Exactly.  It was a disaster that began several presidencies ago.  And this disaster is now ending.  Biden is clear on this--nation building stops for the time being.

[Old Man Willow]

Probably the best day for American foreign policy in my lifetime. Sanity even in the face of the bloodthirsty press and their psychotic barrage.

[President Johnson]

From what I'm observing on media coverage of his speech and decision, that has really lowered my opinion of the US media. Of course it's their job to be critical and ask tough questions, but at this point I fail to see what their point is other than playing politics and attempt to increase ratings. None of the stay on faction has ever answered the question what they anticipate to accomplish by continung to drag this out. The fact everything collapsed so fast just proves Biden's point why the US and allies should fight a war most of the Afghan people don't want to fight despite severe military support, training and trillions of dollars.

[GeneralMacArthur]

From what I'm observing on media coverage of his speech and decision, that has really lowered my opinion of the US media. Of course it's their job to be critical and ask tough questions, but at this point I fail to see what their point is other than playing politics and attempt to increase ratings. None of the stay on faction has ever answered the question what they anticipate to accomplish by continung to drag this out. The fact everything collapsed so fast just proves Biden's point why the US and allies should fight a war most of the Afghan people don't want to fight despite severe military support, training and trillions of dollars.

They just keep attacking Biden for not saying "I am a piece of s--t, this is all my fault" and then bending over, handing them a paddle and saying "please come spank me."

As long as he doesn't say that, they're going to keep saying "Biden is finger-pointing, he refuses to take responsibility."  And then they refuse to understand this concept of "we prepared for a dozen different eventualities, and the worst possible one is what we're seeing, even though we thought it only had a <5% chance of occurring."

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

From what I'm observing on media coverage of his speech and decision, that has really lowered my opinion of the US media. Of course it's their job to be critical and ask tough questions, but at this point I fail to see what their point is other than playing politics and attempt to increase ratings. None of the stay on faction has ever answered the question what they anticipate to accomplish by continung to drag this out. The fact everything collapsed so fast just proves Biden's point why the US and allies should fight a war most of the Afghan people don't want to fight despite severe military support, training and trillions of dollars.

The burden of justification is on the administration, not the media. Now, I support Biden's drawdown in Afghanistan *provided* we accommodate a significant refugee population but there's nothing wrong with the media being as aggressive and, frankly, hostile as they want about a decision like this. That's literally the job of the press. Don't let your pro-Biden enthusiasm guide your opinions of everything else. They aren't being substantively different than they were just because they're not on your side. The second portion of your point was a non-sequitur.

[Mr. Illini]

Probably the best day for American foreign policy in my lifetime. Sanity even in the face of the bloodthirsty press and their psychotic barrage.

Even for those of us that supported finally ending the war, it's gross to celebrate this. This is a sad conclusion to a war that was packed with terrible decisions over the course of 20 years - a conclusion that will lead to a lot of deaths.

[wbrocks67]

The media has truly gone berzerk, and this is coming from someone who has generally defended them in the past. They've made this seem like it's the biggest thing to happen to America in 50 years.

[compucomp]

Yah even one of my liberal friends is calling this speech terrible and said it was gaslighting the nation of Afghanistan

That was the part of it I strongly took issue with as well.

We gutted the Afghan air force by removing contractors, gave the Army's pay to crooks we supported, told them we were going to abandon them, and now we're criticizing them for refusing to lay down their lives for our fleeting political advantage?

I can't agree with this at all. The Afghan "National Army" outnumbered the Taliban by at least 2 to 1, had more funds than the Taliban, had better equipment than the Taliban, had air supremacy over the Taliban, and started the final campaign with control of most of the country. On paper it was a far superior army to the Taliban, with or without the Americans.  I would assign all blame for the collapse on the former Afghan regime.

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/parkerbutler10/status/1427295338382118918

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

Seems like Jake Tapper forgot to take his meds today.