In a recent column, Michael Reagan, commentary writer and son of former President Ronald Reagan, asked, “Is Joe Biden’s brain OK?”
No, Michael, it’s not.
The evacuation from Afghanistan that President Joe Biden told us was a spectacular success was obviously anything but.
Although military photographers recorded hours of video of the chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport following the collapse of the Afghan government last month, it was carefully edited for public consumption.
The Biden administration has a knack for crafting just the right “perception” to convey to the citizenry, as we learned from the president’s leaked phone call with former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this week.
The following video, recorded by Marine Cpl. Mike Markland on a GoPro camera, provides a more accurate version of what was endured by Afghan citizens as well as U.S. servicemen and women.
According to Task & Purpose, Markland posted the video to Instagram with the caption: “I hope this answers questions but also provokes you to ask more.
“To my brothers and sisters who were there I made this for you and your family. When you have the lack of ability to explain all that happened in those two weeks, show them this. Stand tall and wear the last two weeks on your chest.”
“I haven’t found a way to explain it with any words I know,” Markland wrote, attempting to describe “two straight weeks of worsening conditions.”
“Many of us joined because we liked fighting and were good with adversity and conflict,” he explained. “Two weeks in Kabul at [the Hamid Karzai International Airport] put all of that to the test. I can’t say enough how proud I am of the Marines I serve with.”
“Odds were stacked against us,” Markland wrote. “Circumstances undeniably out of our control, but we never let it deter our tenacious approach towards our mission at hand.”
He added that “adversity and challenges happened 24/7.”
“Almost all had no predesignated plan. We did our absolute best and remained stoic through the sleepless nights and round-the-clock work with minimal food and water. Staying up for two or more days straight at a time grinding but remaining intensely vigilant.”
Although the video is no longer available on Instagram, Task & Purpose shared it in an article entitled, “The Pentagon’s filtered version of the Kabul rescue mission looks nothing like what really went down.”
The most startling parts of the video are the scenes recorded at the airport gate.
Throngs of people push and shove to get into the airport to escape what for many of them would no doubt be certain death at the hands of the Taliban. One Afghan man is seen stepping on shoulders in the crowd to get to the gate. A baby is held up above the mob amid terrified screams.
As the dust settles on the turmoil of the past several weeks, it’s become clear that many of the over 100,000 Afghans evacuated were not translators or allies.
This is due to the Biden administration’s issuance of blank visa forms. The forms contained no serial number, no barcode and no name — and they were sent to thousands of people. Predictably, they were then copied and used by thousands of ineligible applicants.
It’s entirely possible that these forms fell into the hands of terrorists who posed as refugees and hopped aboard U.S.-bound flights.
Biden and administration officials have tried to paint the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as orderly and secure. They’d like Americans to think it was perfectly executed.
Thanks to a brave Marine, we know this isn’t true. The scenes captured on his video camera show that the president and his lieutenants lied to the world.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
