In a White House briefing following President Biden’s pathetic address to the nation on his Afghanistan debacle, reporter Jake Turx asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki what happened to the “swift and forceful response” Biden had promised in response to any attack on the airport in Kabul.
On Thursday, 13 U.S. servicemembers were killed, and more than two dozen injured, in suicide attacks on the airport, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.
On Aug. 20, Biden had promised: “[A]ny attack on our forces or disruption of our operations at the airport will be met with a swift and forceful response. We’re also keeping a close watch on any potential terrorist threat at or around the airport, including from the ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan who were released from prison when the prisons were emptied.”
Turx, the White House correspondent for Ami magazine, asked Psaki: “Was this an attack? Were our forces targeted? Was this at the airport? Were our operations disrupted? And if, indeed, it was, would this quality as a ‘swift and forceful’ response?”
Psaki replied: “I think the president just addressed exactly that, when he said, ‘We will not forgive, we will not forget, and we will hunt you down.’”
Turx pressed her for specifics, whereupon Psaki snapped: “I don’t think he could have been more clear.”
Oh, he was clear, all right. It’s clear Biden will do nothing, and ISIS and the Taliban know it.