Over the weekend the Biden team, its friends and apologists were busy touting figures.
On the one hand, they say, look not at the zero American troops killed in Afghanistan since 2020, but at the thousands of Afghan civilians who died. Don’t you see? There was no ‘sustainable status quo’. It doesn’t matter who killed them. This is a dangerous place that our troops, our diplomats, our friends, must leave. There’s no trusting the fanatics we have long been dealing with, the ones now facilitating our departure. Our man made the right call.
On the other hand, they keep saying, look at the withdrawal: not a single American killed. Tens of thousands of people brought safely out of the country. Why, some are about to become American citizens! What an achievement.
Does anyone see the problem with this comparison? Some people are even comparing the numbers to American deaths by COVID and gun violence, just to put things in perspective, of course.
Not much said about the Afghans killed during the past few days, including those shot or trampled at the airport itself. Not much said about the millions of Afghan lives upended, uprooted, forever.
Here’s a number to consider: one (1). One American who chose to remain or was otherwise not able to depart in time, murdered, for all the world to see. Biden’s public account will suddenly turn red.
Mr President, you’re tempting fate. Please just get on with it. And keep your pride, your zeal, and your statistics to yourself.