CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY OCTOBER 19, 2021
HE’S SAID IT BEFORE AND HE’S SAYING IT AGAIN, BUT WITH ONE ADDITION. FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY
BOB GATES TOLD “60 MINUTES” SUNDAY NIGHT: “YOU’D HAVE TO BE PRETTY NAÏVE NOT TO ASSUME
THINGS (IN AFGHANISTAN) WERE GOING TO GO DOWNHILL ONCE THAT WITHDRAWAL WAS COMPLETE.”
GATES ADDED HE “ABSOLUTELY” THINKS FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRESIDENT BIDEN SHARE
RESPONSIBILITY. AND HE CRITICIZED HIMSELF FOR NOT DOING A BETTER JOB PREPARING AFGHAN
SOLDIERS TO DEFEND THEIR COUNTRY. GATES HAS REPEATEDLY SAID JOE BIDEN HAS BEEN WRONG ON
EVERY FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE WITH WHICH HE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED. HE TOLD THE CBS PROGRAM THAT
ONCE A DEADLINE HAD BEEN SET IN 2020, THAT WAS THE TIME TO BEGIN PULLING OUT TROOPS.
THE PROBLEM WAS SETTING THE DEADLINE IN THE FIRST PLACE AND THEN BOTCHING THE WITHDRAWAL THAT LEFT MANY
WHO WORKED WITH AMERICAN FORCES BEHIND. SOME HAVE BEEN HUNTED DOWN BY THE TALIBAN AND
KILLED. WOMEN ARE BACK UNDER THE BURKHA, OUT OF JOBS AND REQUIRED TO STAY INDOORS UNLESS
ACCOMPANIED BY A MALE RELATIVE. NO, WE CAN’T FIGHT ENDLESS WARS, BUT THE TALIBAN AND AL
QAEDA ARE. WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US? I’M CAL THOMAS
