{"id":2035043,"date":"2023-09-17T05:27:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T09:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anatomy-of-a-catastrophe\/"},"modified":"2023-09-17T05:30:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T09:30:46","slug":"anatomy-of-a-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anatomy-of-a-catastrophe\/","title":{"rendered":"Catastrophe&#8217;s Anatomy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">4<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanatomy-of-a-catastrophe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2035043&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>REVIEW: \u2018Kabul: The Untold\u200c Story of Biden\u2019s \u200bFiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to \u200dthe End\u2019 by Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson<\/h2>\n<figure><figcaption>(Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>America marked a grim anniversary on \u2064August 30. \u2064That was the\u2063 date, two years ago, when the United States ended its \u200dmilitary presence in Afghanistan. The war that began\u200b there in the wake of \u2063the September 11, 2001, attacks lasted a full\u200d two decades. The war ended with a botched American\u200b retrograde that led directly to the deaths of 13 brave servicemen and thousands of stranded American citizens and Afghan allies.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b collapse of U.S. resolve \u2062to\u200d win the war reflected an impatience on the part\u2062 of the American \u200dpublic, spurred on by populist and isolationist rhetoric \u200bthat has steadily grown since \u2062the financial crisis of 2008. The\u200c negotiated defeat, which culminated with the Pentagon embarrassingly \u2063referring to the Taliban as our &#8220;Afghan partners,&#8221; began with President Barack Obama but continued through the administrations \u200cof \u2064Donald Trump and Joe Biden.\u2063 The duplicitous government \u2064of Qatar hosted the negotiations and guided the process of\u200b American surrender through all \u200dthree administrations.<\/p>\n<p>In the final analysis, however, the disastrous withdrawal\u2014leading directly to unnecessary deaths, unmitigated chaos, \u2063and the return \u200bof the brutal Taliban government\u2014is the responsibility of one man: President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Authors Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson explain in painful detail how the decisions \u200dof our commander in chief led inexorably \u2063to the deaths of \u2064those 13 servicemen, the abandonment of\u200b an \u2063untold number of innocents, and the humanitarian crisis that endures \u2062today, with Afghanistan back under the draconian Sharia rule\u2064 of \u200bthe \u2063Taliban. Theirs\u2064 is a well-written book, resulting from\u200b dozens of interviews and \u2064well-documented research. But readers should be forewarned: Kabul is as much\u2062 an \u2062ad hominem indictment of Joe Biden and his callousness in the face of human suffering\u200d as \u2064it is a chronicle of America\u2019s final days \u2062in the Afghan theater.<\/p>\n<p>The authors offer infuriating details about\u200d the Biden administration\u2019s outright lies\u200c and cynical spin as the American \u2064withdrawal unraveled. The scene at Hamid Karzai International Airport was utter chaos as thousands \u200dof \u200cAfghans attempted to get out of the \u2062country as the government collapsed. Men, women, and children were crushed to death by the\u2064 crowds outside the fence. Desperate Afghans climbed\u2064 onto departing aircraft, falling to their deaths. American citizens and Afghans who assisted America\u2019s\u2063 war\u200b effort were stranded while Taliban fighters\u200c hunted\u2064 them.<\/p>\n<p>Former military personnel and good Samaritans launched informal efforts outside of\u200b U.S. government channels to extract their colleagues because the U.S. \u2064government had failed to do its job. Yet\u200c the White House boasted of its purported successes. Press Secretary Jen Psaki\u200c told reporters, &#8220;<strong>I \u2064would not say that [the evacuation] is anything but a success.<\/strong>&#8221; The charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires from the Afghan embassy, \u2062Ross Wilson, said\u200c he was &#8220;<strong>proud of\u200d the work<\/strong>&#8220;\u2064 his team \u2063was\u200d doing &#8220;<strong>to assist U.S. citizens and Afghans as part of our historic relocation effort.<\/strong>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Conceit and \u2064dishonesty\u200b may \u200cbe\u2062 commonplace in Washington and therefore often ignored. But the administration\u2014and the Pentagon\u2014cannot\u200b be given a free pass for their failure to support\u2063 the Marines who struggled in the sweltering heat to complete their\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-in-talks-james-cameron-shreds-offensive-rumors-that-hed-direct-titan-disaster-movie\/\" title=\"James Cameron denies directing Titan disaster movie, calls rumors offensive.\">ill-fated mission<\/a> \u2062in its final days. On \u200dAugust 26, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fmr-afghan-minister-it-was-clear-for-years-the-taliban-would-take-over\/\" title=\"Fmr. Afghan minister: It was clear for years the Taliban would take over\">intelligence community knew<\/a> that an \u2063attack\u200c was set to \u2064occur at the airport\u2019s Abbey Gate. The intelligence\u2063 conveyed \u200bremarkable granularity\u200c about the perpetrator. Nevertheless,\u2063 virtually nothing was done to prevent Abdul \u200dRahman al-Logari from\u2064 detonating his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anatomy-of-a-catastrophe\/\" title=\"Catastrophe's Anatomy\">20-pound explosive\u200c vest packed<\/a> with hundreds of ball bearings. The\u200d result was the third deadliest day for U.S. forces during the entire two-decade war.<\/p>\n<p>The 13\u2064 fallen servicemen\u2014David Espinoza, Nicole Gee, Darin Hoover, Ryan Knauss, \u2062Hunter Lopez, Rylee \u2064McCollum, \u200dDylan Merola,\u2063 Kareem \u200bNikoui, Daegan Page, Johanny Pichardo, Humberto Sanchez, Jared Schmitz, and Maxton Soviak\u2014bravely \u2064served their\u2063 country. But their country \u2062failed to serve \u200cthem. Little was done to prevent their deaths,\u2062 and there was no\u200c military response.\u2063 Indeed, \u2064the White\u200d House wanted to \u200cget out and stay out. This was made abundantly clear to families of \u2062the fallen, who later claimed that Biden checked \u2062his watch \u2062&#8221;<strong>at \u200dleast\u2063 five times<\/strong>&#8221; as flag-draped\u200c coffins were escorted from the plane at Dover\u200d Air Force Base.<\/p>\n<p>Dunleavy and Hasson don\u2019t hold back in expressing their disdain for the president. At times,\u2062 the rebuke borders on\u200b partisanship.\u2063 Yet, \u200ctwo years later, it \u2062is\u2063 difficult to ignore the role that Biden played in\u200c this disastrous episode\u2014even if both Obama and Trump paved the road for him.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the impact of America\u2019s botched exit from Afghanistan is evident today. It emboldened Vladimir Putin, whose Russian Army subsequently invaded Ukraine\u200b in 2022.\u2063 It \u2062also gave China\u2019s Xi Jinping an opportunity\u2062 to gloat about American decline. Chinese outlets began\u2062 to refer\u2062 to the United States\u2064 as a &#8220;<strong>paper tiger<\/strong>&#8221; that would &#8220;<strong>abandon Taiwan \u2064in a crisis given its tarnished credibility.<\/strong>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>The \u200cauthors justifiably devote two full chapters of \u2064the book to the impact \u200cof America\u2019s ignominious Afghanistan withdrawal on\u2063 these two theaters.\u2063 They rightly\u2064 observe that our pivot from the Middle East to &#8220;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-u-s-commander-we-must-assume-very-real-possibility-that-we-may-need-to-use-nukes-against-china-russia\/\" title=\"Top U.S. Commander: We Must Assume \u2018Very Real Possibility\u2019 That We May Need To Use Nukes Against China, Russia\">great power competition<\/a><\/strong>&#8221; began with self-inflicted \u2064wounds. Two years later, it\u2019s unclear whether \u200bwe have\u2062 regained our footing.<\/p>\n<p>With the political debate in the rearview, it will now be upon historians to assess the American experience in Afghanistan. It\u2063 was a just war, launched in response to the \u2063worst terrorist attack on the\u200c homeland in our country\u2019s history. It was, however,\u200d a \u2064war that America \u200bfailed to win, despite the fierce dedication and immense sacrifices exhibited by our men and women in \u200duniform. The long-term impact of\u2064 the defeat is not yet \u2064known. But one lesson is clear:\u2063 Asymmetric wars can mire our military for longer than most Americans are willing to bear. \u2064Our enemies have taken note.<\/p>\n<p><em>Kabul: The Untold Story \u2063of Biden\u2019s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought\u2063 to the End<\/em><br \/>  by Jerry\u200c Dunleavy \u2064and James Hasson<br \/> Center Street, 368\u2064 pp., $29<\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Schanzer, a former\u200d terrorism\u200c finance analyst at the\u200d United States Department of the Treasury, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-confirms-kathleen-hicks-as-deputy-defense-secretary\/\" title=\"Senate Confirms Kathleen Hicks as Deputy Defense Secretary\">senior vice president<\/a> \u2062for\u2063 research at the nonpartisan \u2064think tank Foundation\u200b for\u200d Defense of Democracies.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> In what ways does the book criticize the \u200crole \u200dof the Pentagon in\u2063 the fiasco and \u200dhighlight their lack of preparedness and incompetence<\/h2>\n<p><span>  But it is hard to deny the overwhelming\u200c evidence of Biden&#8217;s failures and the devastating consequences of his decisions. The authors highlight\u2063 Biden&#8217;s \u2062lack of empathy and his disregard for \u200cthe lives of American servicemen and Afghan allies.\u200b They point out his administration&#8217;s lies \u200band spin, attempting to paint a rosy picture of the \u200cchaotic withdrawal. The book sheds\u200c light on the incompetence\u200c and negligence of the\u200c Biden administration, which ultimately led to unnecessary \u2063deaths and the return of the Taliban.<\/p>\n<p>The authors also criticize the role of the Pentagon in this fiasco. Despite having detailed intelligence about an imminent \u2062attack,\u2063 they failed to take adequate measures to prevent\u200c it.\u200b This resulted in the loss of more American lives\u2062 and further highlighted the lack \u200bof\u2064 preparedness and incompetence on the part of the government.<\/p>\n<p>The book\u2019s main strength lies in its meticulous research and numerous interviews. It presents a comprehensive account of the events leading up to the disastrous withdrawal, providing \u2062readers with a clear understanding of the failures\u200d and missteps that occurred. The authors \u200bpresent \u200da \u200dcompelling case \u2062against Biden, \u200cholding him\u2062 accountable for the disastrous consequences of \u2064his decisions.<\/p>\n<p>However, it\u2063 is important to note that this book is highly critical \u2063of Biden and his administration. While it provides \u200cvaluable insights \u2063and highlights the failures of \u2063the withdrawal, readers should approach it with some skepticism and consider other perspectives \u200bas well. It is important to seek a balanced understanding of the situation and consider multiple viewpoints before drawing conclusions.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, &#8220;Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden&#8217;s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End&#8221; by Jerry Dunleavy and \u200cJames \u2064Hasson is a gripping\u2063 and well-researched account of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. It \u2063lays bare the failures, lies, and incompetence\u2062 of the Biden administration, \u2062ultimately \u2062holding President Biden responsible for the disastrous consequences of his decisions. This book serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of political blunders and the importance of responsible leadership in times of\u2062 crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>REVIEW: &#8216;Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden&#8217;s Fiasco and American Warriors&#8217; by Dunleavy and Hasson (Getty Images) On August 30, America solemnly commemorated the two-year anniversary of its military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The book sheds light on the war&#8217;s origins and the heroic American soldiers who fought until the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":857,"featured_media":2035044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2035043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/857"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2035043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2035044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2035043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2035043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2035043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}