The shocking fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban is such a failure that even the liberal networks on Monday have abandoned Joe Biden's decision making (at least for now), hammering the President as “completely wrong” and executing a Vietnam-esque Saigon “debacle.”
On NBC’s Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie opened the show by blasting, “A catastrophe for its people and a debacle for the Biden administration. A triumphant Taliban storming the presidential palace in Kabul, seizing total control of the country.”
Guthrie piled on: “And the President at Camp David standing by his decision but under fire for a botched withdrawal.” All three networks eagerly and repeatedly compared Biden’s disaster to the fall of Vietnam. NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel linked, “The Taliban had been taking potshots at the U.S. transport planes as they leave and many are drawing comparisons to the U.S. evacuation from Saigon.”
Good Morning America hosts repeatedly used the Vietnam language that Biden hates the most. Co-host Robin Roberts opened the show by comparing: “The Taliban take over with terrifying speed, described as Saigon on steroids.” Later, she echoed, “The capital officially under Taliban control this morning. The quick takeover described as, ‘Saigon on steroids.’”
Talking to global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, George Stephanopoulos declared, “This appears to be the Saigon moment in Afghanistan.” Raddatz agreed, “It certainly does.”
Continuing the trend of putting the harsh response up front, CBS This Morning opened the show with a clip of Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA): “President Biden saying you wouldn't see helicopters evacuating the embassy like Saigon, and yet here we are. This is President Biden's Saigon moment.”
Even Democrat donor and co-host Gayle King made the Vietnam comparison: “At least five people have been killed in the chaos, and we just learned there's now a temporary halt on flights at the airport. Many observers compare the scene to the fall of South Vietnam back in 1975.”
CBS White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe sandwiched a declaration that Biden was “completely wrong” on Afghanistan between more slams from Republicans:
ED O’KEEFE: Most concerning for some critics, recent assurances that are now proven completely wrong. Mr. Biden said this in July:
JOE BIDEN: The likelihood that the Taliban will run the whole country is highly unlikely.
CONGRESSMAN STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Seems like many in President Biden's intelligence community got this devastatingly wrong, and I think a lot of questions will be asked later about why.
CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency.
On Monday, the network journalists showed they can be tough on Joe Biden's debacle. But the obvious question is will they keep it up?
Telling the truth about Biden’s debacle was sponsored on ABC's Good Morning America by Xfinity, on CBS This Morning by Capital One and on NBC’s Today by Subaru. Click on the links to let these advertisers know you like honest, tough journalism.
Partial transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
08/16/2021
7:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]CONGRESSMAN STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): President Biden saying you wouldn't see helicopters evacuating the embassy like Saigon, and yet here we are. This is President Biden's Saigon moment.
GAYLE KING: Desperation in Afghanistan. We're on the ground in Kabul where the Taliban has taken control.
(....)
7:02 a.m. Eastern
KING: We welcome you to CBS This Morning. As you're waking up this morning, very serious news. The Taliban are now in complete control of Afghanistan. The sudden capture of the country's capital has shocked the world and caused bedlam this morning at the Kabul airport where thousands of Afghans are struggling to get on the next plane out. At least five people have been killed in the chaos, and we just learned there's now a temporary halt on flights at the airport. Many observers compare the scene to the fall of South Vietnam back in 1975.
(....)
7:06 a.m. Eastern
TONY DOKOUPIL: President Biden has said nothing yesterday at least about the final collapse of the Afghan government which the U.S. spent about $1 trillion to support. That's $1 trillion in military and reconstruction costs. Other members of his administration, however, admit the Taliban's quick advance to victory caught them by surprise, and they are taking heavy criticism as our Ed O'Keefe reports.
ED O’KEEFE: Protests outside the white house Sunday as the situation deteriorated. President Biden remains at Camp David where security aides briefed him Sunday from a distance. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, issued a dire warning to lawmakers. The Taliban's swift return to power means Al Qaeda could now reconstitute itself in Afghanistan faster than U.S. government estimates of two years. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was left to explain things --
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTHONY BLINKEN: Like it or not, there was an agreement that the forces would come out on May 1st. Had we not begun that process, which is what the president did and the Taliban saw, then we would have been back at war with the Taliban.
O’KEEFE: Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan expressed concern.
CONGRESSMAN JASON CROW (D-CO): Nobody anticipated that the 20-year build-up of an Afghan army with hundreds of millions of dollars that we've poured into it, that that army would not last a month.
O’KEEFE: Most concerning for some critics, recent assurances that are now proven completely wrong. Mr. Biden said this in July:
JOE BIDEN: The likelihood that the Taliban will run the whole country is highly unlikely.
CONGRESSMAN STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Seems like many in President Biden's intelligence community got this devastatingly wrong, and I think a lot of questions will be asked later about why.
CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency.
O’KEEFE: On Sunday, Secretary Blinken tried redirecting the scrutiny.
BLINKEN: Ultimately it's up to the Afghans, the government, the Taliban, to decide the way forward for the country including Kabul.
O’KEEFE: White House officials don't rule out the President saying more publicly about the situation in the coming days but say there are no current plans to do so or for him to return to the White House from Camp David. Originally Mr. Biden was set to spend this week in Delaware at his home there on a working vacation. Gayle?
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ABC's Good Morning America
08/16/2021
7:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]ROBIN ROBERTS: Stunning collapse. The Taliban take over with terrifying speed, described as Saigon on steroids. Armed extremists seen inside the President's palace after he fled the country. Right now, the massive race to evacuate Americans living there. Afghan interpreters and their families, thousands racing to the airport desperate to get out. At home, pressure now growing on president Biden and the administration to respond
(....)
7:30 a.m. Eastern
ROBIN ROBERTS: You are looking live at Kabul, Afghanistan. The capital officially under Taliban control this morning. The quick takeover described as, quote, “Saigon on steroids.”
(....)
8:00 a.m. Eastern
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Right now we're going to get the latest from Afghanistan. I want to bring in our Chief Global Affairs Officer Martha Raddatz. Martha, we're getting stunning images coming in right now of Afghans clinging to the sides of C-17 transport planes. This appears to be the Saigon moment in Afghanistan.
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NBC's Today
08/16/21
7:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Breaking overnight, Afghanistan falls. A catastrophe for its people and a debacle for the Biden administration. A triumphant Taliban storming the presidential palace in Kabul, seizing total control of the country. Americans evacuated from the embassy by helicopter, scenes echoing the darkest finals days of Vietnam. The military scrambling even more U.S. troops over the weekend in a last-minute effort to get out. Chaos at the Kabul airport with Afghans now desperate to flee. And the President at Camp David standing by his decision but under fire for a botched withdrawal.
CONGRESSMAN MIKE MCCAUL [R-TX]: This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency.
GUTHRIE: Just ahead, we’ll go one on one with the President’s national security advisor on the administration’s plans and missteps. And after 20 years and thousands of lives lost, what might the future hold? Could the country once again become a safe haven for terrorists? And what about the women and girls now facing a brutal Taliban regime?
(...)
7:07 a.m. Eastern
RICHARD ENGEL: The Taliban don’t just control Kabul, but the whole country, and all the weapons the U.S. bought for the Afghan army. There are also reports of atrocities, including abductions, rape, and executions. The militants are much stronger now than 20 years ago, when the U.S. drove them from power when they sheltered Osama bin Laden as he plotted 9/11. Now the Taliban are back, as the U.S. leaves Afghanistan gripped by panic and run by extremists. The Taliban had been taking potshots at the U.S. transport planes as they leave and many are drawing comparisons to the U.S. evacuation from Saigon.
(...)
HODA KOTB: The chaotic scenes in Afghanistan have quickly become the Biden administration’s biggest foreign policy challenge. And this morning, under fire from both sides of the aisle, the White House is scrambling to contain the fallout.
(...)
7:08 a.m. Eastern
PETER ALEXANDER: President Biden this morning facing a catastrophic failure of U.S. foreign policy.
(...)
ALEXANDER: Despite the President’s promise that the withdrawal of American troops would be responsible, deliberate, and safe, the Biden administration is now trying to explain why the U.S. was so caught off guard by the stunning speed of the Taliban takeover, pointing to the collapse of Afghan security forces.
(...)
7:09 a.m. Eastern
ALEXANDER: This morning, the chorus of criticism is growing.
CONGRESSMAN MIKE MCCAUL (R-TX): This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency and I think he’s going to have blood on his hands for what they did.
ALEXANDER: Even the President’s allies demanding answers.
CONGRESSWOMAN JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): This is an intelligence failure. We underestimated the Taliban and overestimated the resolve of the Afghan army.
(...)
ALEXANDER: Still, he’s likely to be haunted by these comments from last month.
JOE BIDEN: But the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.
ALEXANDER: Even before the catastrophic collapse, Defense officials worried a Taliban takeover could allow Al Qaeda to rebuild and consolidate, creating security concerns well beyond the Afghan border. For those who served and sacrificed in America’s longest war, like retired Army Staff Sergeant Seamus Fennessy, anger and sadness.
RET. ARMY STAFF SGT. SHAMUS FENNESSY: It feels like not only a betrayal of what our soldiers have bled for. The way in which we’re pulling out is something that’s disgraceful.
ALEXANDER: The Pentagon has warned each of the last four presidents that a situation like this could happen when the U.S. left Afghanistan. But President Biden will go down in history as the commander in chief presiding when America’s longest war came to such an abrupt and devastating end.
(...)
