President Biden delivered yet another disgraceful speech on August 31, 2021, crediting himself with ending the two-decades long war in Afghanistan while defending his administrations disastrous plan to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.

“Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The longest war in American history. We completed one of the biggest air lifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety.”

— President Joe Biden, August 31, 2021

Biden said he decided in April to end the war. This is when he set the August 31 deadline to withdraw all military personnel. They had four months to plan and execute safe evacuations. What America has witnessed over the past three weeks was the best they could come up with.

In his speech, Biden stated that the assumption was that Afghan forces would hold the country longer than they did.

“That assumption, that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military draw down, turned out not to be accurate.”

— President Joe Biden, August 31, 2021

In the same breath, Biden claimed they were prepared for “every eventuality,” that “we were ready,” and that despite this preparedness the Afghan Security Forces fell faster than “anyone expected.”

“[T]his is the way the mission was designed.”

— President Joe Biden, August 31, 2021

Biden bragged that American forces were able to evacuate 120,000 people, a true historical feat of air power. While this is commendable, it’s what Biden did not claim as part of his plan that spoke the loudest.

While defending the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, 13 American servicemembers were killed in a suicide IED attack. These American’s were there serving others, carrying out Biden’s orders. This was Biden’s plan, and he must own up to it.

August 31 was “not an arbitrary deadline,” Biden said. “It was designed to save American lives. “

Over the last 20 years, American forces have occupied and worked out of Bagram Airfield. It’s located 30 miles from Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). Bagram is a defendable base that was abandoned in favor of HKIA, even when common sense should have dictated otherwise.

According to Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), Biden told military leadership to bring American forces down to 600 Marines, which was not enough hold Bagram Airbase.

“This is Joe Biden and his incompetence that made that decision. And that decision is what cost those lives today. The perimeter around that base is a street wide. That’s it. But out of Bagram, you had kilometers of range that you can see the enemy coming. But not when it’s just a street in the middle of an urban area.”

—Rep. Mark Green (R-TN)

Abandoning Bagram also allowed 5,000 ISIS, Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners to be released. If we are to take Biden at his word, we have to assume that this, too, “is the way the mission was designed.”

President Biden claimed his political victory in front of the American people by ending the war in Afghanistan after two decades at war. All it cost was 13 America lives, 13 grieving families and hundreds of Americans left behind in a terrorist-controlled country.