The Daily Fuckup

On Aug. 23, 2021, the Afghanistan withdrawal was still unfolding, evacuations from Kabul were still underway, and the White House was weighing whether to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for getting people out. Biden told reporters earlier that week that evacuation operations could continue beyond that date if necessary, even as the administration tried to move thousands of people through Hamid Karzai International Airport. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2021/08/22/biden-evacuation-efforts-could-extend-beyond-aug-31?utm_source=openai))

That gave Trump allies a fresh opening. They blamed Biden for the images out of Kabul and for the speed of the Taliban takeover, using the crisis as a line of attack against the current administration. At the same time, Democrats and other critics pointed to the Trump administration’s own record, especially the Feb. 29, 2020 agreement with the Taliban, which set a withdrawal framework and called for all U.S. forces to leave by May 1, 2021 unless conditions changed. Biden later delayed that timetable. ([europarl.europa.eu](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/delegations/en/us-afghanistan-agreement-for-bringing-pe/product-details/20200305DPU24662?utm_source=openai))

The public argument was not really about one speech or one day. It was about who owned the chain of decisions that led to the collapse in Kabul. The Trump administration negotiated the Doha agreement and publicly committed to ending the war. The Biden administration carried out the final withdrawal and evacuation under worsening conditions. By Aug. 23, both realities were part of the political fight, and both sides were using them to make their case. ([europarl.europa.eu](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/delegations/en/us-afghanistan-agreement-for-bringing-pe/product-details/20200305DPU24662?utm_source=openai))

What was clear on that date was the shape of the debate, not a final verdict. Trump-aligned figures were trying to turn Afghanistan into a liability for Biden. Biden allies were answering by reminding audiences that the road to Kabul ran through a deal signed during the Trump presidency. The evacuation was still active, the deadline was still in flux, and the blame game was already well underway. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2021/08/22/biden-evacuation-efforts-could-extend-beyond-aug-31?utm_source=openai))