President Joe Biden’s national address following the fall of Kabul to Taliban forces drew mixed reactions in the media sphere, with many continuing to criticize the pullout and calling for the Biden administration to own its inability to remove greater numbers of Afghanis out of the country before it fell.
The president told the American people that he stood “squarely” behind his decision to remove combat troops from the country by the end of August, continuing the military withdrawal started by Donald Trump--and he defended that decision as the morally right thing to do with no guarantee of achieving a better outcome if troops remained for years or decades. "I am President of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me. I'm deeply saddened by the facts we now face. But I do not regret my decision to end America's war fighting in Afghanistan,” he said.
After he spoke, media pundits came out in force and argued he did not accept responsibility. But isn't “the buck stops here” the ultimate expression of a president owning his actions? They said he did not explain how we could be in the situation we are in. But what they really mean is that he did not give the explanation they wanted.
We all feel bad for the Afghani people-- but if the Afghan police and security forces won't stand up and fight the Taliban after 20 years of training and support, will they ever? U.S. military trainers have described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters. Poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans agree that ending U.S. involvement in the war was in our best interest. But of all media outlets, MSNBC has been particularly vitriolic, featuring an endless string of news segments critical of Biden's decision to get out throughout its daily coverage. Even three days following the chaotic withdrawal, MSNBC news anchors keep featuring segments highlighting the reaction of U.S. veterans to the pullout. Sure, veterans are probably not happy with the withdrawal-- that shouldn't come as a surprise. But why does MSNBC continue to treat that aspect of the story as news? It seems as if MSNBC is attempting to drive the news instead of just reporting on it . . . and surely, they wouldn't be flogging the story for ratings purposes, would they?
MSNBC's Nicole Wallace put it best on her show earlier in the week, when she first reported on Biden's speech: “Ninety-five per cent of the American people will agree with everything he just said . . . [and] Ninety-five per cent of the press covering this White House will disagree. And for an American president to finally be completely aligned with such an overwhelming majority of what the American people think about Afghanistan is probably a tremendous relief to the American people,” she continued.
Well said, Nicole. Let's start to move on, MSNBC-- and focus on getting Americans out.
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