Striking ISIS-K targets in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, 78-year-old President Joe Biden tried to make up for his abysmal publicity from the Aug. 26 ISIS-K suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of the Hamid Karzai Airport, killing 13 U.S. soldiers, injuring 18, killing at least 169 Iraqis. Biden’s predator drone attack at a ISIS-K safe house killed two ISIS “planners,” injuring one but offered no real details on whether the strike would improve ISIS-K terror activities. “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said Aug. 26, revealing perhaps more than what’s presidential in response to the 13 U.S. military deaths. Biden knows that his rushed exist strategy opened the door for a terrorist attack by creating a stampede and mob-scene at the Kabul airport, opening the door for a massive soft-target for suicide bombing terror groups like ISIS.
Pentagon officials called the predator drone bombing “high value “ targets but wouldn’t specify exactly who they think was killed in the strike. Calling the “high value” targets “a planner and facilitator,” the Pentagon gave few details other than looking like a positive PR event. “This strike was not the last,” Biden said. “We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay,” Biden said, knowing that withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan opens the door to terrorists like ISIS and Al Qaeda, who, without U.S. Special Forces patrols, can no longer control remnants of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Biden’s strike was strangely reminiscent of former President Clinton’s throw-away Cruise missile attack at Osama bin Laden Aug. 20, 1998, shortly after Aug. 7, 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies Narobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Biden’s strike on an ISIS outpost was far less lethal that Clinton’s in 1998 but equally ineffective. Bin Laden went on to strike the World Trade Center and Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, apparently planned while Bin Laden was given safe haven in Afghanistan by Taliban founder and Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. Biden said yesterday’s strike will not be the last but U.S. Special Forces or drone operations will have far less intel now that they’re leaving Afghanistan. Biden opened the door to the Aug. 26 ISIS attack by creating a stampede to the Karzai airport, following 72-year-old former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country Aug. 16. Biden announced plans to leave Afghanistan by April 17, spending the last four months dithering when it came to any evacuation. Only after Ghani fled the country, did Biden take the evacuating U.S. personnel seriously.
Procrastinating on the exit plan, Biden created the stampede to the Hamid Karzai airport, creating the massive crowds vulnerable to an ISIS suicide bombing. Had Biden spent four months evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghan contractors, there would have been far less chaos-and-panic with the exit plan. “The fact that two of these individuals are no longer walking on the face of the earth, that’s a good thing,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, talking about the drone strike. “It’s a good thing for the people of Afghanistan and it’s a good thing for our troops and our force at that airfield,” expressing relief about the U.S. counterattack. But like other terror groups, there’s little impact knocking off a few ISIS terrorists, when there’s more to come. Since the Aug. 26 counterattack, the White House warns of another ISIS suicide bombing in the next few days before the Aug. 31 exit deadline.
Biden told ABC News’ George Stephaonpoulos Aug. 18 that there was nothing he could’ve done differently to avoid the chaotic exit from Afghanistan. But had he spent four months evacuating U.S. and Afghan personnel it would have been far less chaotic. Causing the pile up at the Hamid Karzai airport gave ISIS terrorists a perfect opportunity to strike. “We are going to complete the mission by the end of the month, and we’ve said that,” Kirby said, showing that much has been crammed into a short span of time. “Nothing has changed about the timeline for us and we will do this in as safe and orderly way as possible—and that included being about to continue to evacuate up until the very end,” Kirby said, admitting that the mad dash out of Kabul has created the logjam leaving thousands of people, including U.S. military, sitting ducks for a terrorist attack. Biden’s exit from Afghanistan could have gone differently.
When the dust settles and the U.S. gets out of Afghanistan, Congress must investigate Biden’s exit plan that opened the door for the ISIS-K terror attack. “This is a massive military, diplomatic, security and humanitarian undertaking for the United States and our allies,” said Gen. William Hank Taylor. Taylor said evacuating some 117,000 people, including 5,400 Americans, was a tall order for the U.S. military. But had Biden used the four months to evacuate U.S. and Afghan citizens, the stampede at the end could have been avoided. Waiting until Ghani fled the country created the chaos-and-panic that flooded the airport with thousands of refugees. Biden told Stephaopoulos that nothing could have been done differently. But press reports clearly warned the U.S. that that the Taliban had taken over the country, including Kabul. Biden’s procrastination and miscalculation caused the mess.
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