President Biden might have committed an impeachable offense in a private phone call with his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani.
Biden told the former Afghan president to lie to the world about the ability of his worthless army to prevail over the Taliban as it prepared to capture Kabul, a defeat that sent the country spiraling into chaos. The world needs a different “perception” of the Afghan situation, Biden told the soon-to-be-cashiered U.S. puppet. Make sure it has one; the United States will provide support.
If true, based on the first impeachment of President Donald Trump — which occurred, partly, because of a private phone call —— Biden could face charges of high crimes and misdemeanors should the GOP regain control of the U.S. House and Senate next year.
The Call
Based on a transcript provided by a source “not authorized to distribute it,” Reuters reported that the two men spoke for about 14 minutes on July 23.
Biden advised Ghani that the United States would provide military support if Ghani “could publicly project he had a plan to control the spiraling situation in Afghanistan,” as Reuters put it.
“We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,” Biden told Ghani.
Biden then flattered Ghani with the preposterous claim that “you clearly have the best military.”
“You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well,” Biden averred.
That aside, Biden then advised the Afghan president to lie a little, Reuters reported:
In much of the call, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem. “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”
Biden told Ghani that if Afghanistan’s prominent political figures were to give a press conference together, backing a new military strategy, “that will change perception, and that will change an awful lot I think.”
The American leader’s words indicated he didn’t anticipate the massive insurrection and collapse to come 23 days later. “We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows,” said Biden.
Biden’s hopeful assessment suggests a president totally out of touch with reality.
Ghani told Biden that peace required them to “rebalance the military solution” but that “we need to move with speed,” Reuters reported:
“We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this,” Ghani said. Afghan government officials, and U.S. experts, have consistently pointed to Pakistani support for the Taliban as key to the group’s resurgence.
How Biden remained positive about the situation is a mystery. As the men spoke, Reuters observed, “Taliban insurgents controlled about half of Afghanistan’s district centers, indicating a rapidly deteriorating security situation.”
But again, Biden promised help:
Afghanistan was promising a shift in its military strategy, to start focusing on protecting “population centers” — major cities — rather than fighting to protect rural territories. Biden referred approvingly of that strategy. He said that doing so would help not just on the ground but in the “perception” internationally that was required to shore up world support for the Afghan government.
“I’m not a military guy, so I’m not telling you what a plan should precisely look like, you’re going to get not only more help, but you’re going to get a perception that is going to change …,” Biden said.
Impeachable offense
The question is whether Biden committed a crime by asking Ghani to lie given that American lives were at stake, and what direct responsibility Biden bears for the disastrous pull-out that ended this nation’s 20-year war.
House Democrats impeached Donald Trump in December 19, 2019, partly because of his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump asked Zelensky to probe the Biden-Burisma influence-peddling scheme. Democrats charged that Trump “solicited foreign interference” in the 2020 election.
But at least no one died because of Trump’s phone call.
After Biden’s, an allied government collapsed and its enemy took power. A suicide bomber struck the airport during the evacuation and killed 13 U.S. Marines, along with at least 169 Afghans. Afghans latched on to the outside departing aircraft, only to fall to the ground. Biden turned over hundreds of millions of dollars of advanced weaponry to the Taliban, including Black Hawk helicopters.
