President Joe Biden isn’t speaking much about a major anniversary this week, even if his Republican friends are.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan ended two years ago, but the Biden administration has issued only one written statement to acknowledge it.
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“We will forever honor the memory of the 13 service members who were stolen far too soon from their families, loved ones, and brothers- and sisters-in-arms, while performing a noble mission on behalf of our nation,” the statement read.
Asked by the Washington Examiner if the White House would do anything else to mark the two-year anniversary, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed back to the statement and read a portion of it aloud, saying that Biden still believes that ending the war was the right thing to do.
The White House’s relative silence on the anniversary in some ways makes sense. The withdrawal was widely seen as disastrous and led Biden’s approval ratings to fall into negative territory, where they have remained ever since.
Republicans have worked to commemorate the withdrawal in Biden’s absence, holding Capitol Hill hearings featuring the 13 Gold Star families who lost loved ones in a bombing during the war’s final days.
“He will never have the chance to get married. He will never experience the joy of being a father, and he would have made one hell of a dad. We will never meet our grandkids. Our family name died that day. Two years have gone by and where are we? To be frank, we’re knee-deep in bulls*** is where we are,” said Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz. “Everyone who held a key position in the military still has that position or has been promoted.”
Victoria Coates, vice president of foreign policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, argues that Biden isn’t helping his cause by remaining silent.
“The failure to address it hasn’t made it go away,” Coates said. “Not talking about it draws attention to it.”
Indeed, the Republican National Committee has sent out multiple newsletters this week blasting Biden over the withdrawal, pointing out that no Cabinet secretary, general, or political appointee was fired or demoted and that the president has not said verbally the names of the fallen service members in public. That’s on top of the hearings on Capitol Hill.
The White House did name the 13 service members in a statement released on the one-year anniversary of the Kabul attacks, which Jean-Pierre also referenced in the briefing room when asked about the topic.
But the administration’s strategy appears to be to draw as little attention as possible to the withdrawal. The second anniversary statement was released at 4:58 p.m. on Aug. 26, a Saturday, and is the only acknowledgment from the White House so far.
Leaving Afghanistan was planned beginning in February 2020, during the Trump administration, but events ramped up in August 2021. The Taliban seized the capital city of Kabul on Aug. 15, and the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport occurred Aug. 26, leaving the 13 service members and 170 Afghan citizens dead. The last U.S. military planes left Afghanistan on Aug. 30.
The Taliban have since retaken control of the country, issuing a series of regressive reforms and committing hundreds of alleged human rights violations.
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ordered flags at the Capitol flown at half-staff on Aug. 26 to mark the occasion, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also issued a statement.
“Two years ago, a horrific terrorist attack at Abbey Gate killed 13 Americans and approximately 170 Afghan civilians. As we mark this painful milestone, we will never forget these American heroes and their service to our nation,” Austin wrote. “Today, the entire Department of Defense stands in sorrow with them — along with all of the families whose loved ones gave their lives during our 20 years in Afghanistan. We will never forget what they gave to serve this country that we love.”
