The Joe Biden Way

CHAPTER 5Close Reality Gaps

The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful.

—Joe Biden

The world watched the chaos in Kabul, Afghanistan, as President Biden acknowledged the enormity of the task of evacuating American citizens and allies, but not his role in miscalculating what played out for the world to see. Biden never acknowledged the obvious reality that he could have called for Americans and our Afghan allies to leave that country weeks, even months, before the country collapsed to the Taliban in mid-August 2021.

In the waning days of America's longest war, the president had no choice but to proceed with great urgency amid widespread criticism. He did not, however, admit an error in judgment, creating a “reality gap.” Reality gaps have the potential to behave like booby traps, small bombs, that can blow up in a leader's face at any time. Creating a reality gap is ill-advised, much the same as being unaware of blind spots, as discussed earlier.

Make Good on Your Promises Even in the Face of Crisis

Whether it was bad intelligence or miscalculation, the chaotic and uncoordinated pullout from Afghanistan will always be seen as a failure by President Biden and his administration.

Nonetheless, Biden remained undeterred in setting things right. His actions in Afghanistan were swift. As soon as the Kabul airport bottleneck became apparent, Biden hit the accelerator, moving with unprecedented speed to step up efforts to evacuate Americans ...