Biden's Afghanistan Failure Reason Enough to Deny Him Reelection

Dozens of Gold Star family members testified at an Escondido, California, event hosted by GOP Mayor Dane White and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

Those who spoke were all relatives of the 13 men and women killed by the blast from a suicide bomber in Kabul during the botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

The goal of the event, called the Afghanistan Gold Star Families Public Forum, was to give family members a chance to be heard, and make sure that a tragedy like this was never repeated.

"Did they have to die? Could we have done something different?" Issa asked. "I only apologize that we didn't do it sooner."

None of those who spoke had much good to say about either the president or the tragedy that resulted from his chaotic withdrawal of forces.

Kelly Barnett spoke on behalf of her son, Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover. Compounding the loss of her son two years ago was the pain of being lied to and shown "total disrespect" by the president.

"I was told to my face, he died on impact. That's not true. The only reason that I know this is because witnesses told me the truth," Barnett said. "I was lied to and basically told to shut up."

Hoover was killed at the end of his fifth deployment. Barnett was told by her son that his job was to "clean up the airport" because "we can't leave it dirty for the Taliban."

"What kind of disrespect? What kind of hatred for our military? What kind of mess? Confusion. Deceit. Lost. Angry. Sad. Heartbroken and disgusted. These are the feelings that the service members felt. And are still feeling. These are the feelings I'm feeling," Barnett said through her tears.

Being lied to by the White House was a common theme, according to Cheryl Rex, mother of Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola.

"When [Biden] approached me, his words to me were, 'My wife, Jill and I, know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag draped coffin,'" she recalled Biden saying.

"My heart started beating faster and I started shaking, knowing that their son died from cancer and they were able to be by his side."

She asked, "How could someone be so heartless to say he knew how I felt a little after 24 hours of learning of my son's death?"

Despite his oft-repeated claim that he's waging a "battle for the soul of the nation," lack of empathy is this president's hallmark.

When the flag-draped coffins containing the bodies of the 13 slain service members were offloaded at Dover Air Force Base, Biden came under fire for checking his watch — repeatedly.

Mark Schmitz, father of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, noticed Biden frequently glancing at his watch during the otherwise solemn ceremony.

"I actually leaned into my son's mother's ear and said 'I swear to God, if he checks his watch one more time ...'" he said. "I found it to be the most disrespectful thing I've ever seen."

Darin Hoover, father of slain Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, noticed it also, and added context.

"That didn't happen just once," he said. "That happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute and he'd look down at his watch. On every last one. All 13 — he looked down at his watch."

Despite the colossal failure, Biden hailed the withdrawal as an historically unparalleled, "extraordinary success."

"No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today," he said.

"The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals."

Adding yet more salt to the wound, The Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday that the Biden administration sent the Taliban-controlled government more than $2.35 billion in aid since leaving the country, making the United States its largest benefactor.

An additional $1.7 billion "remained available for possible disbursement," despite warnings from members of Congress and administration officials that the funds may be supporting a terrorist regime.

There can be no duty more important for the president of the United States than acting as commander-in-chief. The president decides whether or not to send America's uniformed men and women into harm's way, and asks Congress for a declaration of war against other nations.

If the president doesn't fulfill his responsibilities honorably in this role, he's failed as a president.

Just chalk this one up to his long list of other failures.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.