Representative Liz Cheney is facing some heat after she called out both Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for contributing to the chaos happening in Afghanistan right now. Currently, the country is in crisis with the Taliban invading the capital city of Kabul after the collapse of the Afghan government and the evacuation of President Ashraf Ghani. Despite attempts by former government officials to negotiate a peaceful surrender, Taliban forces invaded Kabul and other major civilian hubs, causing panic amongst people trying to flee the country. It’s a fairly grim situation and one that happened faster than the Biden administration anticipated when it announced that the U.S. would be pulling all troops out of the country by the end of August.
And despite Biden’s decision earning him criticism from both sides of the political aisle, Cheney’s condemnation of how his administration handled the conflict in the Middle East feels, well, tone-deaf to many. That’s because it was Cheney’s own father, along with former President George Bush, who launched the initial invasion into Afghanistan following the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. The goal then was to defeat the Taliban and apprehend al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but 20 years and billions of dollars later, the U.S. government only achieved one of those goals. Still, Cheney was happy to place the blame squarely on Trump and Biden’s shoulders in a series of tweets that called the removal of U.S. troops a “calamity.”
The Taliban continues to support, harbor and fight alongside al Qaeda. They are not a partner for peace. Any deal that fails to prevent America’s enemies from establishing safe-havens on Afghan soil is a phony deal that threatens our security and risks another 9/11. https://t.co/Yd7X3Tif7w
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) August 17, 2019
The Trump/Biden calamity unfolding in Afghanistan began with the Trump administration negotiating with terrorists and pretending they were partners for peace, and is ending with American surrender as Biden abandons the country to our terrorist enemies. https://t.co/PQ1i5W6zZt
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) August 14, 2021
This isn’t “ending endless wars.” This is American surrender, empowering our enemies, and ensuring our children and grandchildren will have to fight this war, at much higher cost. https://t.co/USZ3Npn2mI
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) August 15, 2021
Naturally, the inability of a career politician to reflect on her family’s culpability in a decades-long war did not escape the notice of many.
https://twitter.com/Va2021J/status/1426705054887731200
There appears to be a Dick Cheney shaped hole in Liz Cheney’s memory. https://t.co/y1H3jJQKTV
— Abdallah Fayyad (@abdallah_fayyad) August 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/bobclendenin/status/1426676405279014912
https://twitter.com/Tzipshmil/status/1426666740541497363
Hi Liz. Call your dad! pic.twitter.com/EjCKyxRrxM
— Dana (Pro-Democracy) Crowe (@DMNCBIRD) August 14, 2021