Here's what I'm still partly on the fence about. Yes, the buck stops with the Commander-in-Chief. But is it
all Biden? Was Biden getting sharp tactical and logistical advice ahead of time, but flat out rejected it? Or were many of the advisors giving him erroneous projections, either because they were dimwitted, or felt they had to tell him what he wanted to hear?
This guy may be partisan, but his observations seem unassailable commonsense:
Nathan Sales, the former ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism under former President Trump, told Fox News in an exclusive interview that Biden's "most important misstep" was the decision to leave the Bagram Air Base, which is more remote and in a better location to aid evacuation efforts.
"One of the most important and mistaken decisions that President Biden made was to withdraw from Bagram Air Base. Bagram Air Base is 30 or so miles north of the capital. It was a military facility. It was indeed the heart of American counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan for years. It would have been a far better alternative for carrying out the evacuation that is now going on," Sales said.
Trump counterterrorism official outlines Biden's 'missteps' leading to deadly Kabul bombings
Did not those advising Biden not perceive the wisdom of proceeding the way Sales suggested, or did Biden just poo poo what they had to say? And if the latter,
Why? Biden was never a military commander. I've also never heard of him being a scholar of military history or tactics. Why wouldn't he simply ask ahead of time for the best possible withdrawal plan, and then order that optimal plan executed once it had been developed?