Fred Fleitz is a DC player. He’s president of the Center for Security Policy and served in 2018 as deputy assistant to the president and to the chief of staff of the National Security Council. He also held slots with CIA, DIA, the Department of State, and the House Intelligence Committee staff. The man knows of what he writes.

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Fleitz: In one of the most tin-eared and imbecilic speeches ever given by a U.S. president, Joe Biden claimed Tuesday that the sudden withdrawal of U.S troops from Afghanistan that he ordered without a plan and without notifying the Afghan government and America’s allies was an “extraordinary success.”

Let’s stipulate that Biden’s reckless withdrawal from Afghanistan that cost the lives of 13 U.S. servicemen and left Americans behind can in no way be called an extraordinary success.

The truth, as The Wall Street Journal said, is that Biden and his advisers “have decided that the only way out of this debacle is to lie about it, blame everyone else and claim that defeat is really a victory.”

Biden’s abrupt Afghanistan withdrawal was in fact a catastrophe for Afghanistan, the United States and the world. At the same time, it was a major victory for radical Islamist terrorists, the radical Islam movement and America’s adversaries around the world.

Biden left Americans behind in Afghanistan, probably far more than the 100 to 200 his aides are claiming. Assurances by the president and his aides that the U.S. will get them out are hard to take seriously. These Americans likely will be used as hostages by the Taliban to extort ransom from Washington.

Biden severely damaged America’s reputation as a strong and reliable ally by blaming the Afghan government and military for the consequences of his chaotic withdrawal. Biden stubbornly refused to extend the withdrawal date despite pleas from our allies – including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – that they needed more time to get their nationals and Afghan citizens who assisted them out of the country. This is why the U.K. Parliament on Aug. 18 condemned Biden for his reckless withdrawal decision.

To salvage the disastrous security situation caused by Biden’s decision, the U.S. military was forced to rely on the Taliban for security at the Kabul airport. This probably resulted in the Aug. 26 suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. troops.

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Biden’s reckless withdrawal made the Taliban the best-armed terrorist group on earth by leaving behind an estimated $80 billion in arms, including 358,000 assault rifles, 16,000 night-vision goggles, 64,000 machine guns, 22,000 Humvees and 33 Blackhawk helicopters. This represents a security and intelligence nightmare. These arms likely will find their way to other terrorist organizations and the more sophisticated weapons probably will be sold to Russia, China and Iran.

Since Biden cannot be easily removed for political reasons, it is vital that Congress act on a bipartisan basis to protect our nation from Biden’s incompetence with extreme pressure on the administration to replace the president’s top national security officials – especially Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – so Biden can be surrounded by highly qualified and principled experts who will not tolerate more of his irrational national security decisions. Biden’s Afghanistan debacle proves he is extraordinary threat to U.S. security. Congress needs to address this threat ASAP.