The U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan was a debacle of epic proportions. But then, President Biden has a dismal track record on foreign affairs during his forty-year political career.
- He opposed the Petraeus surge in Iraq in 2006.
- In 2011, he asserted that "the Taliban per se is not our enemy."
- He wanted to break up Iraq into three parts, a Kurdish area to the north, and the rest split between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
- He opposed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. After most officials present urged Obama to go for it, the President turned to Biden. "Joe, what do you think?" he asked, according to an account Biden gave months later. "Mr. President, my suggestion is don't go," Biden said.
Robert Gates, who served as the Defense Secretary in the Obama administration, was prescient in his assessment in 2019.
