The Fall of Kabul and the Fall of Saigon

 

Folks are referring to the situation in Afghanistan as “Biden’s Saigon.” But in almost every aspect, this is worse than the fall of Saigon in 1975. This is an incalculable blow to American prestige.

1. The collapse was much faster: a week as opposed to two years.

2. The enemy was much less substantial. In Vietnam, the other side had major backing from the Soviet Union and China. North Vietnam itself had a large population and a stable government infrastructure. This time, the US was beaten by just a band of guerillas.

3. In the fall of Saigon, the most disturbing image was people trying to get onto a helicopter leaving from the embassy roof. In Kabul, we have already seen people trying to grab onto a cargo plane as it tried to take off. This is worse in both numbers and in apparent desperation.

4. In the fall of Saigon, the Ford administration could rightly claim their hands had been tied by Congress. In Congress, blame was spread out; and Congress was not equipped to make any snap policy shifts. This time, it is entirely the Biden administration’s decision to pull out, and they planned it without any restraints. Nor were they particularly constrained by public opposition to the war, as Congress and the Presidency were in 1975.  They are holding the bag.

5. The US invested nine years in Vietnam, to no purpose. They invested twenty in Afghanistan.

Shockingly, Biden has now sent more troops into Afghanistan to try to secure the evacuation than he pulled out. Surely that is a mark of signal incompetence.

And it looks callous, cowardly, and chaotic that neither Biden nor his press secretary have yet been available for comment. It looks like chaos.

Were the US a Westminster parliamentary system, I think Biden would now have to resign.  The American system is less flexible. Incompetence is presumably not an impeachable offense.