We fully expected the White House to completely botch their handling of the Afghanistan crisis, but we continue to be impressed by just how inept they actually are.
The White House has sent out their talking points on Afghanistan, and from the looks of things, the only confidence worth having in the Biden administration is that they’ll make this much, much worse before it’s all over:
Some White House talking points re: Afghanistan being circulated to Dem offices by the Speaker’s office (sent around noon), per 2 sources pic.twitter.com/e0vAPFwOFj
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) August 16, 2021
Here are the WH Afghanistan talking points Pelosi's office just sent around. They are not good:
"The Administration knew that there was a distinct possibility that Kabul would fall to the Taliban. It was not an inevitability. It was a possibility." #facepalm pic.twitter.com/aE8lbCnw1z
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) August 16, 2021
Oh dear.
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 16, 2021
— Max Q ⚡ (@Randy_Shannon) August 16, 2021
They’re not just not good; they’re downright terrible.
WH talking points: "We don't have boots on the ground in those countries…" [Syria]
We don't?https://t.co/VDMJqafHmX https://t.co/ytHyco07xe pic.twitter.com/zh0s6VzQhG
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) August 16, 2021
what does this even mean? https://t.co/ytHyco07xe pic.twitter.com/A8EXfwgiyS
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) August 16, 2021
Can anyone actually answer that question?
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Is this what planning for every possibility looks like? I used to manage multi-million dollar projects and I’d have been drop kicked into space for this level of shit show.
Unbelievable. https://t.co/uRs9bc99LT
— Julie Lewis (@supersleuthgrl) August 16, 2021
They planned for all the possibilities, eh? Does the mess in Kabul look like they planned for it? https://t.co/v5tBuDxUOy
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) August 16, 2021
"The administration planned for every possibility". With the possible exception of a couple of 'chutes for these guys. pic.twitter.com/aMeSy40j72
— Michael (@KitDarkfeather) August 16, 2021
Our jaws are on the floor.
This is embarrassing. https://t.co/9VydP7pTI9
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 16, 2021
Lots of “don’t believe your lying eyes” here https://t.co/ERjHXpVKtj
— Kate Paul Dillon. (@KatePaulDillon) August 16, 2021
They need us to be stupid. Their legacy depends on it.
None of this makes any sense taken as a whole, some pieces are straight-up lies.
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) August 16, 2021
Some bullet points directly contradict other bullet points. What isn't debatable is downright revisionist. https://t.co/FpgjQ1GQ1b
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) August 16, 2021
"And we'll hold the Taliban accountable to not allowing al-Qaeda a safe haven. If they do, there will be consequences that we'll pursue."
The semi-literate prose aside, what accountability? What consequences? Would the successor government take the threat of force seriously? https://t.co/FpgjQ1GQ1b
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) August 16, 2021
Why would anyone at this point take Joe Biden or anyone in his administration seriously?
The counter-terror points here are absolutely insane. The whole document is embarrassing. https://t.co/DdB7mg5GOb
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 16, 2021
Wow these are absolutely terrible — vulnerable Dems have to be furious that this is the best defense the admin. is coming up with. https://t.co/iTyrLnBSi1
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 16, 2021
Multiple times in this short document they attempt to distinguish that this wasn’t “inevitable” but it was “a possibility.”
They’re trying to defend against attacks that this was an intel failure by saying they always knew it was a possibility.
But that makes it.. even worse. pic.twitter.com/0H3FX9uexf
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 16, 2021
Can it get worse still? Count on it. Deadly incompetence always finds a way.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional text and tweets.
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