How can you tell Biden is lying? His earpiece is humming, his teleprompter is rolling, and his lips are moving.

Biden declared that, “it’s time to end the forever war” and that “it’s time for American troops to come home.” 

“While we will not stay involved in Afghanistan militarily, our diplomatic and humanitarian work will continue.  We’ll continue to support the government of Afghanistan.  We will keep providing assistance to the Afghan National Defenses and Security Forces,” Biden said in his big speech.

Now the withdrawal is “essentially complete”. And you know that when you have to modify “complete”, it’s not.

Here’s the media spin complete with lots of evasive weasel words, equivocation, and gaslighting.

Sources: U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan complete ‘for all intents and purposes’ – Politico

For all intents and purposes of what? Biden’s pledge to withdraw?

The U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is essentially complete

Essentially complete is not actually complete.

“The withdrawal is over, for all intents and purposes,” said one of the officials with direct knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive planning. “It’s done.”

Except for the troops securing the embassy and our path out of Afghanistan as the country falls to the Taliban.

The U.S. currently has roughly 600 troops in Afghanistan, most of whom are Marine Corps and Army personnel providing security at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the person said. The rest of the 600 will be based at the Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, said another U.S. official with direct knowledge of the discussions. 

Officially we had 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. So Biden’s big withdrawal announcement was that he was pulling 1,900 troops out.

Put it that way and it sounds unimpressive. So he lied and the media gaslit the country to jack up his approval rating.

Meanwhile, we’re leaving military and diplomatic personnel behind in a war zone that we may no longer be able to defend as the Taliban speedily take over Afghanistan.

How speedily? Very.

Since May 1, days after President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Taliban have captured 69 of the country’s 407 districts, including territory in northern provinces once seen as off-limits for the insurgency and a stronghold for the government, according to Bill Roggio, editor of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. The Taliban now hold 142 districts, and are fighting for control of about 170 more.

That was the story back on June 25 when the headline was, “Even the Taliban are Surprised at How Fast They’re Advancing”.

In the Politico story, the total on the Jihad scoreboard is…

Overall, the Taliban controls 188 of the country’s 407 districts, and contests another 135, according to FDD.

But FDD is calling it at 195.

The security situation has deteriorated rapidly. In the lax six days alone, the Taliban has taken control of 38 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts – nearly 10 percent of the country – and most all of them in critical areas.

In all, the Taliban currently controls 195 districts and contests another 129 districts, according to the real time assessments by FDD’s Long War Journal.

Prior to the Taliban’s offensive, which began in earnest on May 1 – upon expiration of the date that the U.S. government originally committed to completing its withdrawal under the Doha Agreement – the Taliban controlled just 73 districts and contested another 210.

So it’s over.

The Taliban will take Afghanistan. We don’t intend to stop them. But we’re leaving people there that we may no longer be able to defend because Biden doesn’t want to look bad. 

It’s a pity that the Democrats learned nothing from Benghazi except how to lie with talking points and intelligence assessments. 

The gamble here is that the Taliban will continue avoiding a direct confrontation with American forces and that they’ll restrain assorted other players, including Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Iran, among others, to avoid any complications in seizing the country.

That particular gamble hasn’t had a great history of paying off in Somalia, Iran, or Libya, to name a few places, but learning from history is overrated for those whose only history comes from Howard Zinn or the 1619 Project.