Reaction & Commentary
DID IT EMERGE FROM A PENGUIN IN A WET MARKET? OR DID THE CHINESE MILITARY CREATE THE VIRUS IN A BIO WEAPONS LAB IN WUHAN? JOE BIDEN ASSURED US HE WAS GOING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT. HE HAD THE CANDY ASKED SLEUTHS IN THE WORLD WORKING ON THAT MYSTERY.
THEY WILL FIGURE IT OUT, HE SAID, YOU CAN TRUST THEM, SO HERE WE ARE AT THE END OF AUGUST, AND WHAT IS THE ANSWER? WHERE DID COVID COME FROM? SO FAR, NO ONE HAS TOLD US, AND WE ARE STARTING TO SUSPECT THAT NOBODY EVER WILL. IT’S NOT LIKE THE MEDIA ARE
PLANNING TO PUSH THAT ISSUE. VLADIMIR PUTIN IS NOT FROM CHINA. THEY DON’T CARE. THE CORONAVIRUS INVESTIGATION? WHAT CORONAVIRUS INVESTIGATION? LIKE JOE BIDEN HIMSELF, THEY HAVE NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED THREE MONTHS AGO. AND COME TO THINK OF IT, MAYBE THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE EXERCISE.
YOU ANNOUNCE A FAKE INQUIRY INTO SOMETHING YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT, AND THEN YOU BET ON THE FACT THAT EVERYONE WILL FORGET THAT INQUIRY EXISTS. PRETTY TRICKY. MAYBE THAT IS THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE INTEL AGENCIES, ACTUALLY. NOT TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE, BUT TO PROVIDE POLITICAL COVER TO
THE POLITICIANS WHO CONTROL THEM. “OH, THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION, WOLF, I WILL HAVE THE CIA LOOK INTO IT AND GET BACK TO YOU.” RIGHT, JUST STAY ON THE LINE, THIS CALL MAY BE MONITORED FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE. IT SOUNDS CYNICAL, WE KNOW, BUT IT IS STRIKING WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT IT JUST HOW OFTEN POLITICIANS INVOKE THE INTEL COMMUNITY WHEN THEY ARE LYING TO YOU. HERE WAS JOE BIDEN JUST LAST MONTH. >> YOUR OWN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY HAS ASSESSED THAT THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT WILL LIKELY COLLAPSE. >> THAT’S NOT TRUE. >> CAN YOU PLEASE CLARIFY WHAT THEY HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT WHETHER
THAT WILL HAPPEN OR NOT? >> THAT IS NOT TRUE. THEY DID NOT REACH THAT CONCLUSION. >> Tucker: SO THE INTEL AGENCIES NEVER SAID THE TALIBAN WOULD SWEEP INTO KABUL. THAT IS WHAT JOE BIDEN CLAIMS. DO YOU BELIEVE HIM? YOU PROBABLY DON’T. THE INTEL WORLD MAY BE PARTISAN AND DECEITFUL, IT CERTAINLY IS,
BUT WE ARE BETTING THEY ARE NOT COMPLETELY STUPID. OBVIOUSLY THEY KNEW THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT COULD COLLAPSE. THEY MUST HAVE TOLD JOE BIDEN THAT — OR AT LEAST THE PEOPLE AROUND JOE BIDEN. CAN WE PROVE THAT THEY TOLD HIM? NO, WE CAN’T PROVE IT. AND THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF USING
THE INTEL AGENCIES FOR COVER. YOU GET TO MAKE ANY CLAIM YOU WANT TO MAKE, AND NO ONE CAN PROVE YOU ARE LYING, BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS HIGHLY CLASSIFIED! MAYBE YOU ARE STARTING TO UNDERSTAND WHY NO ONE EVER DEFINES OF THE CIA. THEY ARE TOO USEFUL. THAT WAS FROM JULY, THE CLIP WE
JUST PLAYED, AND AT THE TIME, BIDEN TOLD US THE INTEL COMMUNITY “DID NOT REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT WOULD FALL TO THE TALIBAN.” NOW IT IS AUGUST AND THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT HAS INDEED FALL INTO THE TALIBAN. THAT IS NOT OUR ASSESSMENT AS THEY SAY IN WASHINGTON, IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, THE AFGHAN
TROOPS THREW DOWN THE RIFLES, THE PRESIDENT RAN AWAY, THERE IS A BLACK TALIBAN FLAG HANGING OVER THE CAPITAL. SO HOW DID THIS ALL HAPPEN — AND MORE TO THE POINT, HOW DID OUR EXTRAVAGANTLY FUNDED INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES NOT KNOW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN? WELL, ACTUALLY, THEY DID KNOW. SORT OF.
THAT IS JOE BIDEN’S NEW POSITION. HE EXPLAINED IT YESTERDAY ON ABC NEWS. WATCH. >> BACK IN JULY, YOU SAY TALIBAN TAKEOVER WAS HIGHLY UNLIKELY. WAS THE INTELLIGENCE WRONG, OR DID YOU DOWNPLAY IT? >> THERE WAS NO CONSENSUS. YOU GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS, THEY SAID
IT WAS MORE LIKELY TO BE SOME TIME WENT BY THE END OF THE YEAR YEAR. >> Tucker: ARE YOU FOLLOWING THIS? IN THE SPACE OF A SINGLE MONTH, THE OFFICIAL LINE WENT FROM “OUR INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES THINK EVERYTHING IS FINE IN AFGHANISTAN POST QUOTE TO “THERE WAS NO CONSENSUS IN THE INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES THAT
EVERYTHING WAS NOT FINE” — OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IT IS NOT EXACTLY CLEAR WHAT JOE BIDEN WAS SAYING THERE. ALL WE CAN BE TOTALLY CERTAIN OF IS THAT WE WILL NEVER GET TO SEE THE DOCUMENTS HE WAS REFERRING TO. SO REALLY, ANYTHING COULD BE TRUE, ASSUMING TRUTH STILL EXISTS. PRETTY SMART.
MARK MILLEY, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, IS NOT AS CLEVER. A SMARTER MAN MIGHT HAVE COUCHED HIS LIES FOR PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY DOWN THE ROAD, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, MARK MILLEY IS NOT THAT MAN. HERE IS WHAT HE CLAIMS THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC. >> THERE WAS NOTHING THAT I OR
ANYONE ELSE SAW THAT INDICATED A COLLAPSE OF THIS ARMY AND THIS GOVERNMENT IN 11 DAYS. >> Tucker: THAT WAS TOTALLY UNEQUIVOCAL. ACCORDING TO MARK MILLEY, THERE WAS ZERO INTELLIGENCE. “NOTHING THAT I OR ANYONE ELSE SAW” SUGGESTING A COMING COLLAPSE IN AFGHANISTAN. SO HE LITERALLY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS COMING BECAUSE NOBODY TOLD
HIM. THE PEOPLE PAID TO KEEP TRACK WERE NOT KEEPING TRACK, THE INTEL AGENCIES FAILED COMPLETELY. AND GIVEN THEIR BUDGETS AND POWER, THAT IS SHOCKING IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE. CLEARLY SOMEONE SHOULD BE FIRED IF NOT COURT-MARTIALED. BUT NO, SAYS JOE BIDEN, THAT’S NOT TRUE. IN FACT, SAYS JOE BIDEN, LOOKING
STRAIGHT INTO THE FACE OF HIS OLD FRIEND, THE ANCHOR AT ABC, NO ONE IN THE ENTIRE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THE WHITE HOUSE, COULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING DIFFERENT OR BETTER, AS WE WITHDREW FROM AFGHANISTAN. THE BAD PARTS YOU SAW ON TELEVISION WERE INEVITABLE. NO MISTAKES OF ANY KIND BY
ANYONE CONNECTED IN ANY WAY TO JOE BIDEN OCCURRED. NO ONE CAN BE BLAMED FOR ANYTHING. NO ONE SHOULD FEEL GUILTY, EVERYONE IS SLEEPING JUST FINE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WATCH. >> YOU DON’T THINK THIS COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED — THIS EXIT COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED BETTER IN ANY WAY? NO MISTAKES?
>> NO, I DON’T THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED IN A WAY — WE ARE GOING TO GO BACK IN HINDSIGHT AND BOTH COME UP WITH THE IDEA THAT SOMEHOW, THERE WAS A WAY TO HAVE GOTTEN OUT WITHOUT CHAOS ENSUING, I DON’T KNOW HOW THAT HAPPENS. I DON’T HOW THAT HAPPENED.
>> SO FOR YOU, THAT WAS ALWAYS PRICED INTO THE DECISION? >> YES. >> Tucker: REALLY, MR. PRESIDENT? YOU COULDN’T HAVE HANDLED THIS BETTER IN ANY WAY, NOT EVEN A TINY ADJUSTMENT? NO, SAYS JOE BIDEN. MEANWHILE, DESPERATE PEOPLE TUMBLE FROM AIRPLANES THOUSANDS OF FEET IN THE AIR. MANY THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS
REMAINED TRAPPED TONIGHT IN A COUNTRY NOW CONTROLLED BY THE TALIBAN. BUT NO PROBLEM, SAYS THE PRESIDENT. HOW DO YOU ASSESS A STATEMENT LIKE THAT? WELL, OUR FRIEND PIERS MORGAN DESCRIBED IT AS “BREATHTAKINGLY ARROGANT AND DISTURBINGLY DELUSIONAL,” AND THAT SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT, IF POSSIBLY A LITTLE UNDERSTATED. WATCHING IT, YOU WONDER, DOES
JOE BIDEN UNDERSTAND WITH THIS MOMENT MEANS TO THE COUNTRY HE LEADS? WE HAD TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN, HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THAT. IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE UGLY, THAT IS TRUE. BUT THIS UGLY? THIS HUMILIATING? THIS DESTRUCTIVE TO AMERICA’S AUTHORITY IN THE WORLD, AS DAMAGING TO OUR FUTURE? NO.
NONE OF THAT WAS FOREGONE. NONE OF THAT WAS NECESSARY. ALL OF THAT WAS A CHOICE THAT JOE BIDEN AND HIS ADVISORS MADE INTENTIONALLY, OVER MONTHS. THEY PRICED IT IN, AS HE JUST TOLD US. THEY KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAY. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THEM?
WHAT DOES IT TELL YOU THAT THEY LEFT THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS BEHIND WHEN THEY FLED, AND THEN SEEMED AND SEEM MARKEDLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO HAVE THOSE AMERICAN CITIZENS IN AFGHANISTAN UNDER THE TALIBAN. WELL, IT TELLS YOU AN AWFUL LOT. THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, TO RESTATE, EXISTS TO SERVE ITS OWN
CITIZENS. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT EXISTS TO SERVE ITS OWN CITIZENS, PERIOD. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS NO OTHER PURPOSE. THE MOMENT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT STOPPED SERVING U.S. CITIZENS IS THE MOMENT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT BECOMES ILLEGITIMATE. THAT IS TRUE. THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRUE, SINCE THE DAY THE COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED,
AND IT IS OBVIOUS TO MOST PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE. DOES JOE BIDEN UNDERSTAND IT? SINCERELY. IT’S POSSIBLE THAT HE DOESN’T. TOWARD THE END OF HIS INTERVIEW WITH ABC, THERE WAS A TELLING EXCHANGE. THAT EXCHANGE WAS NEVER BROADCAST ON CAMERA. NOW, TELEVISION NETWORKS EDIT INTERVIEWS VERY OFTEN FOR TIME,
BUT ABC NEWS APPEARS TO HAVE CHOSEN TO EDIT OUT PORTIONS THAT MAY JOE BIDEN LOOK, HOW TO PUT IT, NOT PRESIDENTIAL, INCOHERENT, CONFUSED. WE THINK IT IS WORTH KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED, ESPECIALLY IN A MOMENT OF NATIONAL CRISIS, SO WE ARE GOING TO READ FROM THE TRANSCRIPT THAT WE WERE
PROVIDED, AND HERE IT IS. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I THINK A LOT OF AMERICANS, EVEN A LOT OF VETERANS WHO SERVED IN AFGHANISTAN, AGREE WITH YOU ON THE BIG, STRATEGIC PICTURE. THEY BELIEVE WE HAD TO GET OUT, BUT I WONDER HOW YOU RESPOND TO AN ARMY SPECIAL FORCES OFFICER, JAVIER McCABE, HE DID SEVEN
TOURS, HE WAS SHOT TWICE, HE AGREES WITH YOU, HE SAYS “WE HAVE TO CUT OUR LOSSES IN AFGHANISTAN,” BUT HE ADDS, “I JUST WISH WE COULD HAVE LEFT WITH HONOR.” HERE IS JOE BIDEN’S RESPONSE. LOOK, THAT IS LIKE ASKING MY DECEASED SON BO, WHO SPENT SIX MONTHS IN KOSOVO, AS AN ARMY
MAJOR, AND YOU KNOW, I’M SURE HE HAD REGRETS COMING OUT OF AFGHANISTAN, I MEAN COME OUT OF IRAQ. HE HAD REGRETS TO HOW IT IS GOING, BUT THE IDEA, WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE? NOW, WE ARE WAITING FOR THAT TAPE, BUT THAT IS THE TRANSCRIPT. NOW THE PRESIDENT’S SON WAS IN
THE NAVY, NOT THE ARMY. HE WAS IN THE ARMY, NOT THE NAVY. IT’S NOT CLEAR FROM THAT. WE BELIEVE HE WAS IN THE ARMY AND NOT THE NAVY. HE DID NOT SERVE IN AFGHANISTAN, HE SERVED IN KOSOVO AND IRAQ. JOE BIDEN CAN’T SEEM TO REMEMBER THOSE DETAILS.
WE ARE NOT ATTACKING HIM, WE ARE NOT TELLING YOU THIS FROM GLEE, WE ARE TELLING YOU BECAUSE IT IS TRUE, THIS IS THE MAN LEADING OUR COUNTRY. THE SCARY THING ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN AFGHANISTAN IS NOT THAT AFGHANISTAN IS COLLAPSING, AFGHANISTAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN VARIOUS STATES OF COLLAPSE.
BY OUR STANDARDS, FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. THE SCARY THING ABOUT AFGHANISTAN IS THAT IT REVEALS AMERICAN WEAKNESS, AND WEAKNESS OF THAT’S AGGRESSION. POWER VACUUMS ARE ALWAYS FILLED. THE PROBLEM WITH WHAT WE JUST READ TO YOU IS THAT IT REVEALS WEAKNESS AT THE VERY CENTER OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. WEAKNESS THAT POSSIBLY CAN’T BE
