When a video emerged of presidential candidate Donald Trump laying a wreath at Arlington Cemetery, many questioned, “Why is he doing that? He’s not the president.”
It turns out, it was a campaign stunt. Trump took advantage of the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 soldiers killed during America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. His campaign recorded the event and took photographs of him posing cheerfully with families by the soldiers’ graves. The video became a campaign ad.
Trump was warned this would violate Arlington Cemetery rules. He dishonored the sacrifice of all soldiers buried there; his “thumbs up” pose particularly tasteless, but not surprising. Trump’s ridicule of veterans is well-documented, as is his dodging military service himself based on a dubious medical diagnosis.
The history of the tragic final days in Afghanistan is not well understood, and the Biden administration has been harshly and unfairly blamed for what occurred. The United States invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the attack on America on 9/11 by Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization, and stayed there for 20 years. Hundreds of thousands of troops served in Afghanistan during the occupation, 2,461 Americans died and 20,744 were wounded.
Once it became evident Americans were leaving, Afghanistan fell to Taliban terrorists practically overnight. As military officials worked frantically to get Americans and Afghan allies to safety, the Taliban was already in charge. Panicked crowds overwhelmed U.S. troops, but they still managed to get 130,000 people safely out of the country.
Tragically, 13 of our American troops were killed by a suicide bomber during the withdrawal. It was a devastating loss and blame was immediately directed at President Biden. Unfortunately, facts leading up to the tragedy have been ignored.
During the final year of Trump’s presidency, he began negotiations to end America’s presence in Afghanistan. He chose to negotiate with the Taliban - not the Afghanistan government installed by the United States. Trump even suggested Taliban leaders should come to Camp David to negotiate - an idea shot down by his own advisors.
It was Trump who signed the agreement to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by an established date. Unbelievably, his agreement also allowed the release of 5,000 Taliban terrorist fighters well in advance of the withdrawal.
Biden came into office with his hands tied by Trump’s deal. U.S. military and intelligence officials could not prepare for how quickly the Taliban was moving in as Americans were moving out. Suddenly, it became obvious all the efforts for 20 years to change Afghanistan had failed. It left thousands of Afghans in immediate danger.
It was a tragic, disastrous outcome that occurred under Biden’s watch, but the root cause of the disaster lies with Trump.
Trump is capitalizing on the misconception that Biden was to blame. The visit to Arlington with the families of the 13 fallen soldiers is an example. He saw it as a way to alleviate some of the criticism he’s receiving for admiring the Medal of Freedom award more than the Medal of Honor. He’s also criticized for his insults against John McCain, General Kelly’s son, a Gold Star family, and disabled, scarred, badly wounded veterans.
Two families of the 13 soldiers invited Trump to the ceremony, but Arlington Cemetery rules about conduct at the graves were made clear. When they began photographing and videotaping the event at the grave site, a cemetery official objected. Trump’s campaign staffers bullied the official and provoked an incident that turned into an altercation.
News of Trump’s disrespectful behavior met with deafening silence among Republicans. Sen. Joni Ernst, a proud veteran, says nothing about his contempt for America’s fallen heroes. Instead, she told a Newsmax reporter recently, “Donald Trump is an incredibly strong man…we would be blessed to have him as our president again.”
Trump denies there was an incident at the cemetery, but the Army released the following statement: “Federal law prohibits political campaigns or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators, or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington Cemetery reinforces and widely shares this law and its provisions with all participants. The incident in question did occur and a report has been filed.”
There are calls now for an investigation of the entire episode.