Article Author:
Associated Press
Aamer Madhani
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 12 months since the chaotic end of the US war in Afghanistan have not been easy for Joe Biden. did.
With the new president gaining momentum in his early summer of 2021, American voters largely supported Biden's performance and gave high marks to the economy and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
But in August, the troubled withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan seemed to signal the beginning of a sideways turn for him.
It was the turbulent end of two decades of American warfare. The U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed, horrific bombings killed 13 U.S. soldiers and 170 of his own, thousands of desperate Afghans descended on Kabul's airport, and the last U.S. Escape route before cargo plane departs Hindu Kush.
At the time, a disastrous cutback was the greatest crisis facing the relatively new administration. It left keen questions about the capabilities and experience of Biden and his team. A turning point for President Biden, the episode continues to resonate as he struggles to build confidence in November's critical midterm elections.
Christopher Bollik, director of the Public Opinion Research Institute at Muilenburg University in Pennsylvania, said, "It was a pivotal moment from which he never truly recovered." In terms of how we see him in , and how the government is dealing with the pandemic, which has become a priority for American voters over the war in Afghanistan. A high problem, but Afghanistan has shattered its image of capability and he has never really been able to fix it.”
It was just the beginning of a series of crises for
As Biden was still dealing with the effects of last summer's withdrawal from Afghanistan, COVID-19 cases began to surge again. Add to that months of economic strain caused by inflation, labor shortages and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That sum exhausted the Americans.
Biden was gaining momentum weeks before Afghanistan leveled off. His approval rating was 59% in a July 2021 poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. His AP-NORC poll, conducted last month, gave him a 36% rating.
White House officials and Biden supporters hope the president is now at another tipping point.
The administration recently made headlines in the Capitol, including passing his $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act designed to boost the US semiconductor industry. You have won a collecting victory. Congress also passed a program to treat veterans who may have been exposed to toxic substances by burning garbage bins on US military bases.
And last weekend, the White House agreed on far-reaching legislation to address health care and climate change, along with higher taxes on high-income earners and large corporations. high inflation.
Biden ordered his CIA drone strike in Kabul, Osama he masterminded his 9/11 attack with bin Laden Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Government won. Biden said the operation validated the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
"I have made the decision to end America's longest war...and we will be able to protect America and eradicate terrorism in Afghanistan and anywhere in the world." '” Biden told Democrats at last week's virtual National Committee rally. "And that's exactly what we did."
After the Afghan debacle, Biden scored a big victory in the legislature.
In November, he signed into law his $1 trillion infrastructure contract to fund the rebuilding of roads, bridges and other large projects. First black woman to serve on the High Court. And in June, Mr. Biden scored another victory as Congress passed the most significant gun law change in almost 30 years.
However, these legislative achievements were not rewarded by enhancing his standing with the electorate.
Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, argues that the White House has reason to hope the momentum is shifting with recent legislative victories.
"The question is, 'What did the Democrats bring when they came to power in 2020,'" Schultz said. "And for Democrats running in November, I think we have an even better answer to that question than we had just a few weeks ago." He added that the operation that killed Zawari also provided strong evidence that Biden's instincts as commander-in-chief were correct.
"No one thought Afghanistan would become a rainbow and unicorn elixir after we left," Schultz said. “But the president made the right decision, based on the national security interests of the United States, that he could fulfill his counter-terrorism duties without having thousands of troops on the ground.”
William Howell, a political scientist and director of the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago, said the biggest stumbling blocks to Biden's position on Americans were runaway inflation and relentless government. said it was a pandemic.
But the Afghan fiasco was a defining moment for Biden presidency, he said, showing that American voters began to question Biden's abilities. The year of President Trump's "America First" approach.
"Afghanistan will continue to be important as it seeks to make a central claim to competence in 2020," Howell said. "Images of Afghanistan will remain on Exhibit A in opposition's refutation of capability claims."
Administration lost in criticism of US withdrawal efforts Pushing things back, in the final days of the war, the US ended America's largest airlift, evacuating about 130,000 US citizens, citizens of its allies, and Afghans who worked with the US.
Biden continues to face criticism from immigrant and refugee advocates that the administration has not done enough to resettle Afghans who aided the US war effort.
Last month As of the date of the Green Card, more than 74,000 Afghan applicants remain in the special immigrant visa pipeline. The total includes only the principal applicant and does not include spouses or children. More than 10,000 of his applicants received critical approval for the mission, according to State Department data.
Days after Kabul's unexpected fall last year, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned that the White House had "a massive and thorough response" to the withdrawal from Kabul. We will do a thorough cleaning," he promised, "and we will consider all aspects." top to bottom. "However, the effort has dragged on and is not expected to be completed by Biden's anniversary of the end of the war on Aug. 30.
The White House said more than 2,400 U.S. soldiers had lost their lives. He has yet to release details on how the president will celebrate the anniversary of the war that dropped and wounded nearly 21,000. 95} Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that getting rid of al-Zawari was a victory for the intelligence community, but it also meant that the Taliban had been ousted from power by US forces after 9/11. -Qaida is a haven — once again harboring Al-Qaeda.
"It's worth noting where Zawali was. Kabul. The Taliban are in power again. Al-Qaeda is back as a result of the seizure," McConnell said.
