Baffling Misjudgment

One can hardly believe the breathtaking miscalculations and misjudgments of our political and military leadership that have led to the chaos, confusion and death at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan not to mention the unknown but probable horrors being inflicted on Afghans and perhaps Americans elsewhere in that country.

Almost every bit of news about how the Biden administration has handled the evacuation from Afghanistan defies belief. The average American is incredulous that our leaders, supposedly the best and the brightest, the ones who promised to restore America to preeminence in the world, would've made some of the baffling decisions they have.

One of the latest of these was the decision to actually hand over to the Taliban a list of the names of Afghans who should be allowed entry into the airport. The list, of course, was an implicit acknowledgement that those whose names appeared on it were in one way or another helpful to the United States.

With the list in hand it's a lot easier for the Taliban to know exactly who to hunt down and execute.

Politico offers some details of the Biden administration's bizarre, if inadvertent, complicity in the probable murders of dozens of people who assisted us in our effort to bring Afghanistan out of the seventh century:

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country.

It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

One defense official quoted in the Politico report called the Biden administration's decision to share the names with the Taliban "appalling."

"Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list," said the official. "It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean."

Indeed. One wonders how many of those whose names were on that list are still alive today or will be alive a month from now. One also wonders how anyone could possibly have thought that furnishing the murderous barbarians - who made no secret of their intent to kill any and all Afghans who cooperated with the U.S. - with such a list was a good idea.

One also wonders how many people will be willing to risk allying themselves with the United States in any future conflict. We have scarcely shown ourselves to be particularly trustworthy partners, and it's obvious that throwing in with the U.S., at least under this administration, is a very risky business.