Bidens haste has burned bridges around the world

August 23, 2021 â€" 11.39pm

It is worrying when world leaders go to ground and don’t address an unfolding disaster. It is not much better when they front up almost every day to repeat the same messages. US President Joe Biden is trying to address the worst debacle of his term so far, the fall of Kabul, but his updates do little to improve a crisis both national and global in scale.

On Monday morning (AEST) Mr Biden suggested the military might make even greater efforts to extricate Americans from extreme and present danger in Kabul, but he also repeated his message from last Friday: withdrawing from America’s longest war was always going to be messy.

“Let me be clear: the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began,” Mr Biden said. “It would have been true if we started a month ago or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss â€" of heartbreaking images you see on television. It’s just a fact.” Still, he insisted: “I think history is going to record this was the logical, rational and right decision to make.”

Mr Biden has been trying to conflate the defendable decision to leave Afghanistan after 20 years with the manner in which the US has taken its leave. The rushed departure of troops and the failure of US intelligence to prepare for the immediate collapse of the Afghan government have not only instantly endangered the lives of thousands of Afghan allies, but triggered consequences around the world. The United Nations thought the number of Afghans displaced by the Taliban ascendancy in July was already more than 270,000. It would be far greater now, and Europe, particularly, is bracing for the demands of this wave of refugees fleeing for their lives.

When announcing the withdrawal, Mr Biden, like his predecessor, Donald Trump, said the mission was accomplished as the terrorist threat was snuffed out when al-Qaeda was routed. But on Sunday, Mr Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, was warning that Islamic State was already stalking evacuees at Kabul’s airport, while extremist groups across Asia have been issuing congratulatory press releases and exchanging encrypted messages, inspired by the Taliban’s effortless victory and slick messaging.

China also exploited the moment, not just by signalling it is open to discussing mutual interests with Afghanistan’s new rulers, but also by pumping out messages that the US is the kind of superpower that will cut and run. It is not that Taiwan should really be as worried as China suggests, but the shock and dismay expressed by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly and many other allied governments behind the scenes is a serious blow to the US’s standing.

Mr Biden was supposed to restore the world’s faith in America’s reliability after the Trump years, but the chaos at Kabul airport has diminished his administration’s reputation as a cadre of foreign policy virtuosos.

On Monday afternoon, Vice-President Kamala Harris stood up in Singapore to make soothing noises about the importance of the south-east Asian region, promising “robust analysis” of what went wrong in Afghanistan while making sure to “express sorrow”.

On Tuesday night (AEST) Mr Biden will dial in to a G7 meeting called by Mr Johnson where the latest US President will not be feted but scolded for the mess he has created. Britain wants the US to push for an extension to the August 31 deadline set in negotiation with the Taliban for foreign powers to leave Afghanistan. The allies may yet occupy for some time to come a single runway in the middle of a city where every checkpoint could be deadly.

Once again, Mr Biden will say that it was always going to be ugly. But the calamity in Kabul will be part of his legacy. His administration needs to work with its allies to confront the damage done.

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Since The Age was first published in 1854, the editorial team has believed it important to express a considered view on the issues of the day for readers, always putting the public interest first.

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