When the Cowardly Command the Courageous
BY JONATHAN W. EMORD
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
The Biden administration’s latest act of cowardice in the face of Taliban terror is its assertion that Americans, special immigrant visa (SIV) holders, and Afghan allies left behind in Afghanistan will be led out of the “diplomatically,” not militarily. “A new chapter of America’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun,” intoned Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over. A new diplomatic mission has begun.” In the face of a savage Taliban enemy intent on the murder of every American, the Biden administration is broadcasting to the entire world that we will not resort to military power to save our people and our allies; we will just talk it over with the terrorists. It certainly does not have to be this way. American warfighters are to this day ready to undertake the only sure way to get every American, every SIV holder, and every Afghan out: military intervention.
The confidence our soldiers and our people have in the Soldier’s Creed, that sacred promise to leave no comrade behind, enables us to aspire to greatness and look the enemy in the eye without blinking (consistent with that creed, we win because we never admit defeat, and we never, ever allow an American to be left behind). Rather than fulfill that sacred pledge with courage and honor, Commander in Chief Biden has violated it in a cowardly manner, humiliating our soldiers and our nation in what promises to be an endless series of entirely predictable hostage-takings, executions, and acts of public humiliation.
Moreover, those who surround the president, who have disgraced themselves and their offices by implementing Biden’s dishonorable withdrawal (taking out the military precipitously while leaving behind Americans, allies, and tens of billions in weapons as gifts for the Taliban), are richly deserving of the condemnation they are receiving. Rather than implement President Biden’s orders that would disgrace the United States military and nation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, and Centcom Commander Kenneth McKenzie should have resigned in protest. That none has done so speaks volumes to their ineptitude and dishonor. They willingly chose to be complicit in the cowardly acts of this president. Even now, as the disgrace is apparent to virtually every American (excepting Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer), they remain in their positions, not even hinting at resignation.
Undoubtedly, Blinken’s August 30 remarks were translated by the Taliban as they were broadcast. I suspect that their interpretation of Blinken’s pledge to replace military engagement with diplomacy proceeds along the following lines: “The Americans admit they have been defeated. The coward Biden won’t use military force to save the Americans, SIVs, and Afghan allies left behind. We can torture and kill them at will.” Far from being America’s “partners”—the oxymoron Centcom Commander McKenzie and the Biden administration used to describe them—the Taliban, our ruthless enemies for the past twenty years, are by their every word and deed a force for unspeakable horrors, murder, violation, and desecration of life, and brutalization of women. They are human jackals. President Biden and his enablers dishonor Americans who have fought and died in battles against these savages when he refers to them as “partners.” The Taliban are not worthy of such official recognition, let alone any American association. They remain a dedicated enemy of the United States, and of civilization itself. Predictably, they will take Americans hostage. They will execute Americans, SIVs, and Afghan allies. They will commit acts of terror in the United States. They will commit all manner of heinous acts until they are destroyed. They will endlessly humiliate the United States and its citizens and allies, as long as this feckless president remains in office, allowing them to get away with it.
If instead of Joe Biden we had a president whose actions revealed his or her true love of country, we would not sit idly by while these predictable atrocities unfold. We would immediately deploy to the theater the Army’s 82nd Airborne, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, the U.S. Army Rangers, United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance Units, United States Army Special Forces, and the U.S. Air Force’s Special Tactics Squadron along with upwards of 50,000 battle-ready ground troops—all positioned to act on a moment’s notice to open and defend corridors for the prompt evacuation of Americans, SIVs, and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan—all under American control. Once so positioned for action, we should demand that Taliban leaders remove their armed militia from every location where Americans, SIVs, and Afghan allies are present within a set few hours or that militia will be obliterated and the entire Taliban leadership will be decapitated. We should let them know that we will relentlessly and endlessly pursue every Taliban leader until the decapitation is complete. The Taliban know where Americans, SIVs, and our Afghan allies are (Biden permitted Centcom’s McKenzie to give them that information, he did, and we also left intact a trove of biometric data). They are going door to door right now hunting them down.
At the appointed hour, we should then suppress all opposition and have heavily armed special forces units fully backed by air support and nearby staged reinforcements descend into each location where Americans and allies are present (removing every American first). Kill orders should be issued to take out every armed Taliban in the area and to suppress with lethal and overwhelming force any sign of opposition. If a single American is killed, we should immediately initiate and maintain until completion decapitation strikes, making sure that every identifiable Taliban leader is eliminated. If we had a commander in chief with courage equal to that of our troops, one who understood, as do they—that a woke military is a nonsensical military, that an Army that abandons its weapons and its own people in the field is an army in disgrace—we would never have precipitously withdrawn from Afghanistan. That ignoble act of Biden would never have happened. We would have withdrawn piecemeal, removing all civilians first, and holding onto our bases until every weapon was either removed or destroyed.
We have a coward as commander in chief, a coward who commands the courageous—the worst possible plight for our brave soldiers who fight honorably, never leave an American behind, and make the ultimate sacrifice, if necessary, to ensure the achievement of the mission. Biden has dishonored them, most especially. They will never forget that dishonor.
The removal of Americans and allies from a hostile power is not a diplomatic mission. No amount of jawboning at terrorists will save a single life from the human jackals we call Taliban. The choice to prefer diplomacy over military intervention is lunacy. It bespeaks a total abandonment of the American cause. If Biden and those enabling him were serious about leaving no American, no SIV, and no ally behind, they would intervene militarily with speed to secure the immediate and safe evacuation of our countrymen and our allies, before they become Taliban victims. America’s warfighters are itching at the chance to rescue our people, American honor, and our global standing. They would do so in a heartbeat but this president and his enablers stand in the way.