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Comment by tlear | Hacker News Reader

And yet Crimea and east Ukraine happened on Obama's watch and Kyiv will fall on Biden's watch. Cool eh?

All the stage setting for them Kyiv on Trump's watch. If Trump had won a second term it would still have happened. We ascribe entirely too much power to the office of the President sometimes.

It is clear Russia is taking advantage of Biden's fear of military action. China, North Korea, Iran all have been more aggressive. The outcome in Afghanistan gave everyone the impression America will back down. Trump kept everyone off balance.

> The outcome in Afghanistan gave everyone the impression America will back down. Trump kept everyone off balance.

You mean the outcome of the withdrawal plan that Trump agreed to? Biden was damned if he did and damned if he didn't:

- The US is weak for withdrawing

- The US doesn't stick to its agreements

That's a false dilema. Biden wasn't criticized for withdrawing from Afghanistan, he was criticized for doing a bad job at withdrawing.

What should he have done differently to have done a good job?

Kept Bagram air base until the evacuation was complete for starters.

Not droning innocent civilians and then fibbing on the way out would have been nice as well.

Maybe not left so much heavy equipment and arms?

And stage for that was set by those laughable red lines in Syria. Remember that?

US resolve is non existent that much is true. It has little to do with Trump or Biden for that matter. When Obama let Assad use gas Putin took notice, everything else comes from that.

About Afghanistan.. it was not the withdrawal it was the laughable way it was done. Abandoning Bagram.. what dumbfuck thought of that? We DO know what idiot approved it though.

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