September 10, 2021 --

The  July 13, 2021 New York Times article on the departure from Afghanistan of  the U.S. in-country commander, Gen. Austin S. Miller,  suggests, in light of the reality of the calamitous U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, that the U.S. military cooperated with Biden in deceiving the government and people of Afghanistan.

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The headline over this article in the July 13, 2021 print edition of The New York Times reads: "Top U.S. General Leaves as Afghan Withdrawal Continues."

This news article reported on the departure of Gen. Austin S. Miller as "top American general in Afghanistan."   The article reported that security at the U.S. embassy would be the responsibility of Rear Admiral Peter G. Vasely "who will report to Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, who will take over the broader military mission in Afghanistan."

General Miller was quoted in the article, "'Our job is now just not to forget'[.]"  The Times article continued:

"General McKenzie, who arrived in Kabul on Monday [July 12], spoke afterward, assuring those present that the Americans were not abandoning the Afghan people in such dire times."

What on earth did Gen. McKenzie mean -- that we would keep in touch by smart phone, if the Taliban permitted mobile phone contact?

The story noted that the Taliban had already "taken swaths of the country, sometimes without firing a shot,"  and took note of "the United States-led mission's inability to groom an effective Afghan military despite spending billions of dollars on the effort since the U.S. invasion in 2001."

This acknowledgment raises two immediate thoughts: did the Biden administration believe that after the U.S. quit the country, Afghan forces would be successful in defending against the Taliban?   And does Washington think that all that is needed for successful counterinsurgency is to throw heaps of money at the insurgents?

The article went on to include this interesting comment about U.S. intel: "U.S. intelligence assessments, though often wrong [as, say, concerning Trump-Russian collusion?] have included dire warnings that the government could collapse, opening the door for the insurgents to take over."  

Here, the Times got things a bit backward: the government collapsed when the Taliban took over Kabul.

Next the Times account, by Thomas Gibbons-Neff, gave this quote from Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan national security adviser, after the U.S. military ceremony: "'There will be no takeover.'" 

May we inquire as to Mr. Mohib's present whereabouts? One does hope he is not in Taliban custody.

The article went on to indicate  that the  move out of the Bagram Air Base was accomplished in early July, "quietly"  and "in the middle of the night."  Suddenly and secretly, might have been a more accurate way of describing U.S. abandonment  of "its largest and last base in the country,"   Citing Pentagon sources, tMr.. Gibbons-Neff said that the "move [was] prompted by security concerns," and was also consistent with the U.S. withdrawal policy.   Here, the reader is left to conclude for him/herself that the Pentagon never considered the possibility that Bagram might be needed as alternative to the besieged Kabul airport.

Two more paragraphs from Mr. Gibbon's Neff July 13 New York Times article demand quoting..

"The president insisted  [at the White house, July 8] that the United States had not abandoned the thousands of Afghans who served as interpreters or provided other assistance to the American military and diplomatic missions.

"Mr. Biden said evacuations were underway, and he promised those Afghans that there was 'a home for you in the United States, if you so choose.'"

With the U.S. evacuation out of Afghanistan now  complete, certainly for Biden's purposes, it would be fair to say that the U.S. president gave the people of Afghanistan a false promise, for what has he done if not having abandoned the people of Afghanistan to the Taliban?  One last question: how has Biden served U.S. national security by turning Afghanistan over to the ruthless and extremist Taliban?