Trump's Afghan Sabotage

President Biden answers press questions about Afghanistan. Video.

America’s withdrawal from its decades long involvement in Afghanistan has been marked by chaos. The rapid fall of the Afghan government and the swift transition of the Taliban has been labeled an “intelligence failure of the highest order”. It is a definite black eye to Joe Biden’s foreign policy as members from both sides of the aisle are demanding Congressional hearings into the botched US exit.

Could this all be the result of one of several land mines Donald Trump planted to sabotage the Biden administration?

Trump’s distrust of the intelligence community is well known. He rejected the findings of multiple intelligence agencies that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election on his behalf. He regularly fired several heads of these agencies when they indicated findings that were unfavorable to him and replaced them with loyalists who pledged allegiance to Trump rather than the Constitution.

So, it’s entirely possible that the debacle in Afghanistan was as much a deliberate act of sabotage by the Trump administration as it was a Biden failure, as Trump destroyed many of the capabilities of the intelligence community, thereby preventing vital information from reaching the Biden White House.

Trump and the Taliban

Without a doubt Donald Trump ripped to shreds many of the norms that past administrations established. One such practice was the policy that America does not negotiate with terrorists.

Trump ignored this policy as he opened negotiations with Taliban leaders, ignoring the legitimately elected government of Afghanistan. As part of these negotiations Trump ordered the release of up to five thousand Taliban prisoners. He also set a date for the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

President Biden could have simply ignored the deal Trump negotiated. He certainly had precedence on his side, since Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords and the Iran Nuclear Deal. However, doing so would undo the efforts to repair America’s image in the international community. There would certainly be a huge outcry that America could not be trusted to uphold any deals, even bad ones, negotiated by a prior administration.

So, Joe Biden was indeed obligated to stick to the deal to get out of Afghanistan.

Trump Loyalists

As he was leaving office, Trump replaced many members of the Pentagon and intelligence agencies with those who had pledged loyalty to him. By making these posts Civil Service positions rather than presidential appointments, Trump made it increasingly difficult to dislodge these appointees from these key positions.

With these loyalists imbedded in these vital areas, it would be easier for them to withhold or distort key intelligence findings as a means of undermining the Biden administration. The resulting blowback could even lead to a defeat in the midterm elections and even a possible re-election of Trump in 2024.

Donald Trump has made no secret that he is willing to destroy democracy if it is to his advantage. The January 6th insurrection, his continuing efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and his pathetic attempts to control the Republican Party are evidence of this desire. So, it would not be a far stretch to believe that he is making ongoing strives to sabotage any successes of the Biden administration.

Could the Taliban deal be only one of these efforts? If so, what other land mines has he planted, just waiting for the right moment to explode in the face of President Biden’s accomplishments?