What Have the Biden-Harris Administration and Dems Done?

• • United the West against Putin and behind Ukraine, standing against authoritarianism and for democracy.
    • • As most will recall, Trump and his administration withheld $400M in Congressionally mandated military funding for Ukraine while it tried to blackmail Ukraine into providing political dirt on Biden. Trump viewed Putin as an ally and had planned to withdraw from NATO if he won in 2020.
      • President Biden and his Administration, in contrast, began working behind the scenes in April 2021 – 10 months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and only a few months after taking office – to strengthen NATO’s commitment to countering Putin’s military aggression.
      • As the threat of escalation became more evident, the Biden-Harris Administration continued to work with its allies in NATO to lay the groundwork for sanctions. They also continued to prepare Ukraine for Russia’s invasion by providing critical intelligence and guidance, and later billions in military support which has been essential to Ukraine’s longevity.
      • When Russia invaded, the global community quickly rallied to impose significant sanctions – something that many thought would never happen. President Biden and his administration deserve an enormous amount of credit for taking action early on to strategize and rally allies to ensure that Putin did not prevail in his authoritarian power grab.
  • Strengthened and expanded NATO which, in turn, strengthened our national and global security.
    • • As discussed above, just months into his administration, President Biden began organizing a coalition of NATO members and allies in an unprecedented effort to stand against Putin’s aggression (something that did not and would never happen under Trump).
      • Further, “Biden concluded that the best way to derail Putin’s hope for dividing NATO would be the accession of two strong new members, Finland and Sweden.”
      • Previously, Finland and Sweden had avoided having military alliances. However, following Biden’s successful diplomatic efforts to change Finland’s and Sweden’s positions, Finland and Sweden applied and were accepted into NATO in August 2022, marking a significant expansion of NATO’s power against Russia. The US Senate also overwhelmingly approved the admission of these two countries into NATO.
        • • • “The Biden administration’s organization of this coalition to support Ukraine may look simple in retrospect. But it was a complicated coordination of diplomatic, military and intelligence resources that pulled together dozens of nations at what may prove to be a hinge point in modern history. Putin thought he could roll through Biden and the West to an easy victory in Kyiv. The Russian leader made a catastrophic mistake in overvaluing his own strength and underestimating the resolve of Biden and his team.”
  • Delivered critical intelligence and military support to Ukraine before and during Russia’s war. When Russia invaded, many experts predicted Ukraine would not last even a week. Instead, nearly seven months later, the war continues but Ukraine still stands while Russia continues to experience massive losses and worldwide sanctions. As of August 2022, the U.S. has given Ukraine $10.6B in monetary aid in addition to US intelligence.
  • Restored $250M in humanitarian aid to Palestinians which Trump eliminated. Shortly after assuming office, the Biden-Harris Administration restored economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people through the United Nations relief workers agency. Trump had cut virtually all funding to Palestinians, including to those in Syria, in 2018.
  • Ended the 20 year war in Afghanistan that was never once authorized by Congress, lost over 172K lives and cost $6.5T.
    • • Background: The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the Taliban government refused to turn over Osama-bin-Laden.
        • • In February 2020, Trump entered into an agreement – not with the existing Afghan government which was completely excluded from the negotiation – but with the Taliban. The agreement limited direct US military action against the insurgents and required the US to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan.
          • It also required the Taliban to not harbor any terrorist organizations; though it was later clear that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were working together.
          • Trump’s agreement with the Taliban had no enforcement mechanism, and all but ensured the Taliban’s ability to take over Afghanistan. It gave all the power to the Taliban and did not require that the Taliban stop its attacks on the Afghan military. In fact, the agreement allowed the Taliban to rebuild its military strength and prepare for the scheduled US withdrawal.
          • Not surprisingly, the agreement was widely criticized by national security experts including H.R. McMaster – Trump’s second national security advisor – who called it “a surrender agreement with the Taliban.”
          • In the meantime, Trump had also been withdrawing troops – which his Secy of Defense Mark Esper said contributed to the challenges of withdrawing in 2021.
          • Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that “the Trump’s administration’s deal with the Taliban that intended to lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country was a disaster.”
          • More importantly, Trump guaranteed that the US withdrawal would be met with attacks by the Taliban on Afghans and their government.
      • Afghanistan War Casualties – Over 172K (as of April 2021):
        • • American service members killed – 2,448.
          • U.S. contractors: 3,846.
          • Afghan national military and police: 66,000.
          • Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.
          • Afghan civilians: 47,245.
          • Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.
          • Aid workers: 444.
          • Journalists: 72.
      • Cost: Unlike other wars which were financed through war bonds or raising taxes, the war in Afghanistan was financed through debt. As of 2002, the war cost $2T, but because it is debt-financed, it will cost $6.5T through 2050.

• • • Enter President Biden in 2021: Biden was a senator when the war in Afghanistan began and as VP under Obama, he saw the war continue to escalate with more troops and little progress, and a country that wanted the war to end.
      • • Fast forward 20 years and 3 presidents, the situation remained the same with little prospect for improvement without total withdrawal. Trump’s agreement with the Taliban had negotiated a total troop withdrawal by May 1, 2021. Biden extended the scheduled withdrawal until August 31, 2021.
        • On August 15, 2021, Kabul and the Afghan government fell to the Taliban. At this point, the option was to deploy more troops or exit. After 20 years, President Biden made the difficult decision of exiting.
        • Not surprisingly, the Taliban’s attacks increased and the media pounced on Biden, disregarding the entire history that led to that moment, including Trump’s “agreement” with the Taliban which ensured that the Taliban would take over and unleash chaos on Afghans.
        • Despite this, between August 14th and August 25th, over 124K people were airlifted out of Afghanistan – one of the largest and most successful airlifts in US military history on a single runaway at an airport under constant attack from the Taliban – the same Taliban with which Trump entered a “peace agreement.”
          
          • “It’s shamefully easy for presidents to start wars and much, much harder to end them. Biden’s decision to withdraw now is not, as his critics say, “an indelible stain on his presidency” or a “cowardly betrayal” or a sign of “weakness.” It is perhaps the boldest foreign policy move by a president in my lifetime.”
        • Christmas 2021 was the first Christmas in 20 years that there were no American soldiers at war.

• See What A Difference A VP Makes section for more details on VP Harris’ work on foreign policy and national security.
• Promoted gender equality internationally. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Build Back Better World Partnership with G7 partners to meet infrastructure needs in low- and middle-income countries. Gender equity is one of the initiative’s four pillars — alongside climate, health and security, and digital technology.
• Re-established international cooperation on climate change and COVID-19 efforts. Immediately after taking office in January 2021, Biden issued an executive order establishing climate change as a priority in foreign policy and national security. Since then the US has rejoined the Paris Agreement and engaged in a multitude of actions with federal agencies and international organizations to address the impact of climate change and to coordinate COVID action.
• Conducted two significant successful counter-terrorism operations. Maher al-Agal, a high-ranking official of the Islamic State militant group, was killed in Syria, and top al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a strike in Afghanistan in July 2022. There were no civilian casualties.
• Implemented new rules and measures for combating extremism in the military through the Department of Defense. In 2021, the Department of Defense released the report on Countering Extremist Activity within DOD. Though military members have long been prohibited from actively participating in white supremacy and hate groups, this report sought to address the rise of extremism since the January 6th attack on our Capitol.
• House Democrats approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to compel government officials to prepare a report on combating white supremacists and neo-Nazi activity in the police and military. Every Republican voted against the measure. In addition, every Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee voted for the Pentagon to “immediately” halt the counter-extremism programs.
  • Note: 17% of those charged with January 6 crimes had military ties, and most of those were veterans. Further, “in the past 31 years, domestic violent extremist attacks by veterans and active-duty servicemembers have killed more than 300 people and injured nearly 2,000 more.”