Thread by @DirkSchwenk

I'm wearing the rose-colored glasses. Biden is making lemonade out of death lemons. And the camera wielding vultures seeking misery can F off. A thread.

If you suddenly learned that the Taliban launched an offensive that reached Kabul before we really started to pull out US people and allies - what would you expect? You'd expect to hear of mass-casualties; street battles; beheadings; people thrown off buildings; US troops dead.

None of that has happened.

None of that has happened despite the fact that it appears that everyone - probably including the Taliban - is surprised that the Afghan government just gave up.

Honest actors would ask: "why hasn't Afghanistan devolved into civil war and retribution against those that worked for the Afgan government?"

Our TV media isn't asking that question. They are invested in finding the "chaos" that would fit their assumptions and pump their ratings. They give much time the "experts" with long investment in a failed war who say we should stay longer and fail more.

Large chunks of the twitterati aren't being honest actors either. They looked at an 18 second clip from the airport on the 1st day and adopted "failure" and "chaos" and haven't taken a breath since.

(I take a brief moment here to recognize that for people on the ground in Afg, especially women and girls, the Taliban's rule is a tremendous hardship and loss of opportunity. That said, the people chose that over a hot civil war, and it's hard to blame them. Look at Syria).

So why hasn't Afghanistan devolved into a hot war and a mass casualty event? I'll don the Rose Coloreds for a moment: at least one reason is Biden's calm, non-reactive leadership. No panic. No second-guessing. No passing-the-buck. Just doing and saying the right things.

Another reason is the pragmatic calculation of the Afghan people. Once Trump/Pompeo reached a deal with the Taliban to remove all US forces and release Taliban fighters ... they did what they thought best for themselves and their families, and prepared to lay down arms.

It's actually a kind of amazing thing that the Afghanis did. Somehow practically every member of the police and armed forces got the message - we aren't going to fight - and neither US or NATO forces were aware of it.

I am certain that this decision by the Afghanis saved many lives. Block by block battles with the Taliban; airstrikes; retribution by the victors ... all of these would have been devastating even by Afghan standards.

The Taliban has also - at least so far - acted in a pragmatic manner. They bought a peaceful takeover. They have not-so far-ruined that by committing the kinds of atrocities that would necessitate violent response.

Biden and NATO are now ramping up the airlift out for both their own forces and for allies. The Taliban has largely stayed out of the way. They are reasons to do so: 80 percent of Afghanistan's national budget comes from foreign support. NATO and Biden control those funds.

The Taliban in exile have received money from the drug trade and from NATO's enemies. If they are going to form a government, however, they have millions and millions of reasons to act with a degree of responsibility.

(I am not the least bit fooled by claims women and girls will have rights under Sharia as viewed by the Taliban. Those rights aren't the rights of humans we view them in the West).

Since Biden, NATO and the people of Afghanistan seem to have reached an uneasy but functional accord - I will move on to my fears. There are lots of Jihadists that will think that the Taliban is selling out, and will have an incentive to attack and create mayhem and chaos.

It is a certainty that there will be future strife in Afghanistan. Bad actors will try to lay that of the feet of the good. I hope honest actors do not adopt that.

No rosies needed

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1428778616817602560?s=20

Since I am urging an honest view of what is happening - Trump's Deal with the Taliban was the key factor in Afghanis laying down arms. Trump didn't do that for the US or for Afghanistan. He did it for Putin and to make the US look weak after he lost the election.

This was supposed to be a giant stain on Biden's legacy. Biden took it; evaluated it; and is now using it to get the US out, with relative peace, despite Trump's bad intentions. Lemonade.

My President, Joseph Biden, is the calm, steady leader that we needed to get this done. He is doing it despite the malice of TFG; the semi-destruction of Department of State; and despite a media narrative designed to harm. That's my President. Dirk out.

If you dig this kind of thing, I always appreciate a follow. I try for thoughtful commentary and welcome thoughtful response even if in disagreement.