Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
When the United States acts, the world is always watching, and one of the loudest messages since President Joe Biden took office came from how the United States handled its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
What message did that send globally to other government leaders who may see America as an adversary? That was a question asked by Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, during a panel discussion Thursday about Americas role on the world stage at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Atlanta hosted by FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council.
I think that will go down in history as the worst foreign policy failure in U.S. history. Every decision that was made was wrong, said Lt. General (Ret.) William Boykin, executive vice president at Family Research Council. What did that say to the rest of the world? It said that we have weak leadership. And you have to ask yourself, why did Vladimir Putin refrain from attacking Ukraine during the Trump administration? And then he went in with barrels blazing, under the Biden administration, and I will tell you, I think a lot of that goes back to the weakness that peopleboth our adversaries and our friendsrecognized in the Biden administration.
Other countries recognize that the Biden administration is weak and indecisive on many issues, he said, not just how the U.S. military left Afghanistan.
Boykin mentioned Bidens approach to the Paris climate change treaty and his efforts to get the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Whats the value to the United States? And whats the value to our allies, to put Iran on a pathway to nuclear warheads, Boykin said. I think were going to continue to see the consequences of not only the pullout of Afghanistan, but stupid decisions that have been made by the administration, one of which is
our president shut down our pipeline, and then turned around and went to the Saudis.
Boykin said there were several Saudi nationals flying the planes on 9/11 and that Saudi Arabia has been a major sponsor of terrorism. Despite this, Biden went to Saudi Arabia and to Russia to ask for oil after shutting down Americas oil production, Boykin said.
Does that make sense to anybody? Its the most foolish thing, he said. They see that kind of decision making, and they see us as being weak, and they see this as a time when they can take advantage of us. Weakening Military
Boykin believes weakness is more than an international perception, and he gave examples of how Biden is intentionally weakening the military, including kicking out servicemembers who refused to get the COVID-19 shot and teaching critical race theory and inclusion tolerance instead of teaching how to be in a constant state of readiness for war.
All of these things that have nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with the agenda of the administrationyou are doing them an injustice and ultimately youre going to pay the price for that, Boykin said.
At the same time, theyre turning around and writing to old generals like me, saying, We need help recruiting because we just cant recruit enough people. Well let me explain to you how this thing of mathematics works. You get rid of all of them, and then those who are watching from the outside say, I dont want a part of that. And those on the inside, many of them leave on their own.
Many in leadership at the Pentagon got their start under President Barack Obama, Boykin said.
If theyre compromisedif they lack focus, the question we need to ask as a nation is, whos mentoring the next generation of leaders? Whos bringing up the warrior leaders for the future? The answer is nobody, he said. And thats the hardest thing to fix in terms of restoring the Navy and the Army and Air Force and the Marine Corps. China Is Watching
Perkins directed the conversation to China and asked panelist Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, how China likely views the Biden administrations moves.
We dont have to speculate. The Communist Party propaganda was very clear, Chang said.
The day that Kabul fell to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Chang said, Chinese newspapers declared that China would invade Taiwan at some point, and that when this happens, the island will fall within hours and the United States will not come to help.
Read more here...