Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin: “We don’t have the capability to go out and collect large numbers of people.”

There are only two possibilities:

(1) This statement is true. Forces in Afghanistan were drawn down too far, so they are insufficient for the task at hand. There aren’t enough troops to secure both Bagram Air Base and Kabul Airport. So we abandoned Bagram, with its runways and guard towers. This leaves Kabul Airport, in the middle of a city largely controlled by Taliban. And many Americans and Afghan friends can’t get through Taliban checkpoints to the airport.

(2) This statement is false. As former Secret Service transport agent Dan Bongino points out, secure arteries could be established on major streets in Kabul, at gunpoint. Many Americans, perhaps most, could be evacuated to the airport. Taliban would be told that if a plane were fired on, retribution would be swift. This solution isn’t perfect, but it is the best available answer to the current problem.

If (1) is correct, Austin and the top Army and Air Force generals should retire or be relieved immediately. They allowed our assets to be weakened to the point that our mission of getting our guys out could no longer be accomplished. They caved to pressure to meet Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal of all troops, and ignored what was necessary to leave no one behind.

If (2) is correct, there still are enough, perhaps barely enough, troops to secure Kabul Airport and arteries leading to it. Most Americans could be evacuated, but fighting would probably be necessary. Our troops are more than eager to get their guys out, but Biden (or whoever is actually in charge) won’t allow a fighting withdrawal. Top generals are more politicians than warriors, and they are willing to lie to cover up the fact that they could effect a withdrawal if they were allowed to, or rather, if they wanted to.

I cannot decide which possibility is worse. Neither seems particularly appetizing. In fact, both are downright disgusting. “Cover your behind” is obviously the new motto.

How does that make those left behind feel? Even worse, how does that make those forced to leave them behind feel? Will they, or anyone, volunteer for dangerous assignments? Will any sane person sign up for the military in the first place? Spend all day being taught Critical Race Theory instead of Leadership, Drill, and Exercise of Command? Spend the next day learning to be woke rather than learning how to survive in combat? Who needs that?

If you set out to demoralize our military, and to appear weak to our enemies and undependable to our friends, what would you do differently? Nothing? What does that tell you?

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