August 2024 marks the third anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration's most consequential international policy action: the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

Why Biden-Harris? Vice President Kamala Harris has said on several occasions she was "in the room" -- meaning in the decision loop -- when Joe Biden ordered a withdrawal based on the calendar and not on battlefield conditions. "Completely out by 9/11" is a sound bite, a political bumper sticker. It isn't clear-headed senior leader strategic guidance for a military withdrawal from a complex war zone.

The Trump administration planned to withdraw, but in order to support the pro-U.S. Afghan government, the U.S. would keep the huge Bagram airbase as a logistical hub and intelligence post. But Joe Biden nixed Bagram and decided to withdraw via Kabul's inadequate airport.

Why? Ineptitude? Dementia?

In late May, The Washington Post reported that retired Gen. Austin Scott Miller, the senior commanding general during the 2021 withdrawal, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee "he was so troubled by the administration's 'lack of understanding of the risk' that he privately warned a Marine Corps commander charged with planning for a possible evacuation to prepare for 'really adverse conditions.'"

As the Afghan debacle unfolded, the world's most vicious actors -- Russia, China, Iran and its proxies -- saw American senior leaders posture, flounder and then abandon its Afghan allies (and an undetermined number of U.S. citizens) to Taliban revenge.

Here's the telling Biden quote, one that bears repeating: Biden knew early on his bungled withdrawal had become a catastrophe. On Aug. 31, 2021, Reuters published the transcript of a July 23 telephone call between Biden and Afghanistan's then-President Ashraf Ghani. Biden told Ghani that "... the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things aren't going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban. And there's a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."

"Whether it is true or not." That's jaw-dropping. The lives of U.S. citizens, U.S. soldiers and U.S. allies were at stake. But a good story for the press and public in the next news cycle guided White House decision-making.

Biden wanted to project a picture, not project American power. Ghani got the picture -- and he fled.

Around the globe, the thugs concluded the weak White House gave them a strategic opportunity. Their moment had arrived. The czars, commissars, ayatollahs and cartelistas concluded Biden-Harris America would talk but wouldn't fight -- and if pushed, preferred to run.

Yes, run. Remember Biden told Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy he should flee. The gutsy Zelenskyy told Biden he didn't need a ride, he needed ammo.

The buzz phrase is "loss of deterrence." Biden's 2021 Afghanistan debacle damaged U.S. credibility and encouraged adventurism and aggression by terrorists and authoritarian states.

The Biden-Harris Afghan bugout seeded two hot wars with nuclear warfare potential -- Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Iran war involving four Iranian proxy armies. Russian and Islamist proxies are involved in several guerrilla conflicts in Africa. Venezuela's dictatorship, which has Iranian ties, has threatened to invade neighboring Guyana. China threatens to invade Taiwan while waging a slow but expanding war in the Philippines' maritime exclusive economic zone.

Here's a compounding factor: A large cadre of Free World elite academic, media and political personalities don't believe the vicious actors really mean what they say, even when the thugs back hard talk with paid mobs, assassination, guns and bombs.

Afghanistan in 2024: Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are using Taliban Afghanistan as a base to train and reconstitute their forces.

In April, retired Gen. Frank McKenzie (former CENTCOM commander) told ABC News the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) was operating "unabated" in Afghanistan and the U.S. had "almost no ability to strike" (the terrorists).

So, the U.S. can't project sufficient power. What a sorry picture.

To find out more about Austin Bay and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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