By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden is taking a lot of unjustified heat over his decision to end our military involvement in Afghanistan.

It is coming in the form of criticism over the lack of preparation for evacuating allies and those Afghans who helped us during the 20-year war. The Taliban stormed into Kabul this week and have seized control of a government they once ran with ruthless depravity.

I want to share this brief notion.

Joe Biden was the fourth president of the United States to deal with the Taliban and with a potential end game of the Afghan War. Did he present a coherent, comprehensive exit strategy that included caring for the translators and others who assisted us during the conflict? No.

However, Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump all had their opportunities to craft an end strategy as well. What they did any of them do to care for the men and women who aided us? Did any of those former presidents seek to develop a strategy to use once we declared an end to this war? No! They didn’t.

So as their successor, Joe Biden, struggles with seeking to manage this end game, he is taking heat that isn’t entirely justified. He inherited a mess — one of many — from his immediate predecessor, who let us remember actually sought to negotiate an end to the war with the Taliban. That didn’t go well, either.

Joe Biden declared that the “buck stops” with him. He is now the president and he takes full responsibility for his actions and for all the consequences they bring. He’s a grownup and is more than able to withstand the pounding he is taking.

However, I want to cut the POTUS just a bit of slack. He didn’t create the problem. Indeed, none of the three men who preceded him developed any strategy to deal with the chaos that is unfolding.

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s take a moment, take a few deep breaths, and seek to put the Afghanistan collapse and turmoil into a bit of perspective.

President Biden’s decision to end our military involvement comes directly on the heels of a deal negotiated by his immediate predecessor, who sought to work with the Taliban on a withdrawal of our forces.

You’ll recall that POTUS 45 actually invited the Taliban terrorists to Camp David for a summit on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in 2020. It didn’t occur, given the outrage expressed at the time.

The former POTUS wanted us out of there by May of this year. He got defeated for re-election. Joe Biden stepped up and decided to end the conflict right now. So … he did.

President Biden had set the 20th year since 9/11 as the date we would leave; he chose instead to move up a bit.

All of this had been planned by the previous administration. Where the current administration fell short has been in the planning for the evacuation of our Afghan allies, the people who helped us during the 20-year war. Yes, the Biden administration deserves criticism for the way it has mishandled that element.

However, the withdrawal was set in motion many months before President Biden took office.

And yet, we now hear from Republican members of Congress seeking to invoke constitutional powers to strip Biden of his presidential authority. Some of the GOP fruitcakes keep yammering about the president’s mental acuity.

Rick Scott raises removing Biden from office over Afghanistan – POLITICO

They’re full of sh**!

Our nation was pulled kicking and screaming into full terrorist alert on 9/11. To my way of thinking, we remain much more vigilant now to the dangers of foreign terror attacks than we were prior to that hideous event two decades ago. President Biden vows a robust response from our military if we detect any potential threat from the Taliban. Trust me on this, the Taliban do not want to face the wrath of the world’s most powerful military force.

I want to give the president a bit more time to hash out the details that admittedly should have been reckoned with prior to the withdrawal.

As for our allies in Afghanistan who are clamoring for safe haven, they need our help immediately. I believe President Biden is working to give it to them at soon as is humanly possible.

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden has said the only thing he could possibly say with regard to the Afghanistan government’s collapse and the Taliban takeover in that war-shattered nation.

He said “The buck stops with me” and he takes ownership of the decision to end our involvement in the longest war in our nation’s history. There would be no way on God’s good Earth that he could reverse course, express regret about the decision he made and send tens of thousands of U.S. troops back onto the battlefield.

There would be no way to find a different solution “five years ago” or “15 years in the future,” Biden said.

Fair enough. Our war is over. The suffering in Afghanistan is far from over. The Taliban has marched into Kabul more quickly than anyone expected.

I am terribly conflicted by what is happening. I want our men and women to come home, too. I am tired of our involvement in a civil war that one side — the so-called good guys — was unwilling to fight. Biden said we supplied the Afghan armed forces with billions of dollars, state-of-the-art equipment, the best training possible. President Biden noted correctly, though, that no amount of money could pay for a fighting force that is unwilling to fight.

Thus, the prospect of Afghan women being returned to subhuman status draws my intense ire. However, the Afghan armed forces were ordered to defend against that occurring … and they failed in their mission.

Collin County Judge Chris Hill — a conservative Republican — calls the events a revival of the Jimmy Carter presidency; he calls it “Jimmy Carter 2.0.” No surprise there.

The situation is still unfolding. We do not know how it will play out. I am going to hope for the best.

As for President Biden, this is why we’re paying him the big bucks.