The Taliban announced that they expected America to be out of Afghanistan as of August 31, even though there are tens of thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies still trapped in the country.  Joe Biden did not tell the Taliban to go pound sand.  Instead, he meekly agreed, provided that America was still allowed to get Westerners and certain Afghan citizens to the Kabul airport during that time.  Even the G7 leaders who were thrilled with Biden in June are unhappy.

The Daily Mail sums things up:

President Joe Biden told the Taliban on Tuesday that U.S. would stick to its promise to lead Kabul by Aug. 31 if it stuck to its agreement to allow Westerners and vulnerable Afghans free passage to the airport.

The U.S. has ramped up its airlift in recent days amid fresh reports of human rights abuses that will fuel fears for the fate of people who worked with American troops.

Adding to the sense of urgency, the country's new Taliban rulers said that all evacuations must be completed by the end of the month and announced a ban on Afghans traveling to the airport. 

Biden said the U.S. was 'on pace' to complete its mission by Aug. 31 but said he had asked officials to draw up contingency plans if U.S. troops had to stay longer.

'Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops, but the completion by the 31st depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate, allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out and no disruptions to our operations.

'In addition, I've asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable, should that become necessary.

'I'm determined to ensure that we complete our mission.'

Considering that the word out of Afghanistan is that the Taliban are blocking roads to the airport, turning away and beating American citizens, and going door to door to slaughter Christians, it's laughable in a crying kind of way to think there's any truth to Joe's claim that he'll get everyone out in the next six days.

Two military veterans in the House of Representatives, one a Democrat and one a Republican, sneaked into Afghanistan and came together to say there is no way to evacuate all Americans and Afghan allies and that even September 11 is an unreasonable date for the evacuation:

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, flew in and out of Kabul airport on Tuesday, with both men adding that they boarded return flights with empty seats so as not to take away space from fleeing Americans and Afghans.

They appeared to condemn Joe Biden over his chaotic withdrawal from the war-torn country, and predicted the US would not be able to airlift everyone eligible to leave Afghanistan on time. 

[snip]

 'It's obvious that because we started the evacuation so late, that no matter what we do, we won't get everyone out on time, even by September 11.

'Sadly and frustratingly, getting our people out depends on maintaining the current, bizarre relationship with the Taliban.'

There's a lot of speculation about what's going to happen to the people trapped in Afghanistan and what Biden is going to do about their being trapped there.  The top contenders are either (a) that there are going to be massacres of both Americans and Afghans or (b) that, in addition to giving the Taliban $83 billion in state-of-the-art weapons and transport, we're going to give them additional billions to get them to release thousands of hostages.  Both scenarios are awful.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the same G7 leaders who were so thrilled to be dealing with Biden — because he gave them anything they asked for, unlike Trump, who put America first — are very worried about Biden's willingness to cave to the Taliban:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among the leaders who urged Biden to keep boots on the ground longer during the Tuesday meeting. European leaders are worried there is not enough time to evacuate everyone who wants out. 

Biden spoke for seven minutes during the virtual meeting, according to officials.

Afterwards, Merkel said it was clear that the evacuation could not continue if it was not supported by the U.S.

And Johnson said the leaders discussed how to ensure people could continue to flee after American troops departed.

'The number one condition that we are insisting upon is safe passage beyond the 31st, beyond this initial phase, for those who want to leave Afghanistan,' he said.

To those Democrats who were willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get Biden in the White House, all I can say is "be careful what you wish for; you might get it."  Of course, my gloating is severely limited by the fact that it's not just Biden and the Dems going down in flames.  It's the Americans and allies trapped in Afghanistan, as well as America itself.

Image: Joe Biden (edited in Pixlr).  YouTube screen grab.

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