In the wake of the colossal failure of US policies in Afghanistan, diplomats in Israel recollected that former Foreign Secretary John
Kerry had urged former prime minister Netanyahu in 2013 to adopt
the Afghan model employed by the US.
The idea was that a local army was to take control of territory and protect it from terrorist elements.
Kerry volunteered to train a Palestinian force which would control security in Judea and Samaria. When Netanyahu refused to consider such an option, Kerry even volunteered to fly him in to Afghanistan to see the army the US had trained there.
Kerry also tried to persuade Netanyahu to agree to using NATO troops to maintain security in Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu rejected outright the notion that foreign troops would be responsible for security in any part of Israeli-held territory.
In the meantime, the US-trained Afghan army crumbled before the advancing Taliban at at alarming rate and western diplomats are still trying to flee from Kabul airport as the Taliban takes control of the capital city.
President Biden was left to defend his decision to leave the war-torn country despite the huge investment the US had made in establishing a democratic government in Kabul and arming a 300,000-strong military.
Just five weeks ago Biden promised that the evacuation would be “orderly” and would not relive scenes like the botched US withdrawal from Saigon.
But the current hasty evacuation and the horrific scenes from Kabul airport have led to significant criticism of the US’s foreign policies under the Biden administration.
Moreover, Americans are angry that the Taliban’s conquering of Afghanistan effectively wiped away two decades of US military presence that cost nearly 1 trillion taxpayer dollars and thousands of American lives.
Biden himself claimed that “we gave them all the equipment they needed, but what we couldn’t provide them with is the will to fight for their future”.
But Biden’s speech (which was followed by a hasty exit from the room, without taking questions) did not resonate with Americans.
His approval rating dropped by 7 percentage points Monday and hit its lowest level so far in his presidency, with just 46 per cent of American adults approving of Biden’s performance in office.
(Vosizneias).