Sen. Ernst slams president for rapid fall of Afghanistan: It's on 'Biden's shoulders'
Within the last 96 hours or so, the situation in Afghanistan went from bad to catastrophic quite rapidly. The fall of Kabul and the inevitable takeover of the war-torn country by Taliban forces is an embarrassing mark on President Joe Biden's presidency, to say the least.
According to Fox News, the president is facing criticism from all sides, but especially from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the first female combat veteran to be elected to the Senate, who placed the brunt of the blame of what's happening on the ground squarely on Biden's shoulders.
The Iowa Republican held nothing back in a Fox News interview on Friday when she described the devolving situation on the ground there.
"This is a very grim reality, not just for the United States but for so many of our partners around the world to see Afghanistan fall like this. It is all on President Biden's shoulders," Ernst said.
Ernst added: "This rapid and haphazard withdrawal of American troops — before we knew that our embassy would be safe, before we had our Afghan interpreters and other friends out of Afghanistan, to allow it to fall like this without any sort of plan or recourse, it is shameful."
She also pointed out that while various Pentagon spokespeople have held briefings on the developing situation throughout the past week, Biden has resorted to essentially hiding from the media — and America — as he jaunted off to Camp David for a long weekend of presidential relaxation.
One can only imagine the extreme criticism that former President Donald Trump would have faced had he taken the same actions while a major country fell to terrorist forces.
Adding to the dangers of such a country falling, with a much weaker U.S. president at the helm, is the strong possibility for groups similar to the Islamic State (ISIS) once again growing in strength, given that they would essentially have an entire country as their new training ground and safe-haven.
Only time will tell just how bad this situation becomes, but at the end of the day, the buck stops with Biden, just like it would if Trump or anyone else were in the White House at the moment.