Afghan Airlift
Change the reality. Change the story.
The Berlin Airlift. We did it in 1948. We can do it now.
Humans understand the feeling of being trapped. We don't like it. We experienced it as infants, squirming to get free of a parent's arms, out of a crib. My son's third or fourth word was "Stuck!" Stories coming out of Kabul displayed the adult version of frustration and panic of being stuck.
Biden has an opportunity, and he is seizing it. Four days ago I wrote that Biden should do what Americans know how to do: Materials logistics. FedEx, Amazon, and the Postal Service do it. The military does it. Fly stuff from one place to another in two days.
Moving quickly requires a destination where no governor, zoning official, or NIMBY citizen group could create delays, i.e. a military base. I suggested Fort Hood in Texas. The Wall Street Journal just reported that a "tent city" is being set up at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. Just as good.
Biden is making it happen. United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and American Airlines know how to transport passengers in airplanes. There is already a law in place to recruit the planes as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Airlines have capacity. They want to do this. American Airlines issued a statement saying the company is "proud to fulfill its duty to help the U.S. military scale this humanitarian and diplomatic rescue mission."
American Airlines is validating Biden's ideal branding and framing: It’s a rescue mission. Perfect.
The ascendent GOP message has been opposition to immigration, especially from Muslim countries. Trump described immigrants and refugees as criminals, as benefit-seekers, or as job stealers. He scoffed at their claim of danger back home. He was decisive and cruel; we don't want those people here in our country. A great many people agreed with this framing. Fox's most popular host, Tucker Carlson, has amped up that description of Afghan refugees as mortal threats to America. He says some will be secret terrorists but all of them are a part of a demographic wave to outvote White Americans.
Video this week changes the optics. Stuck Afghans are sympathetic victims. The media loves the story of the Taliban threatening Americans, especially women. It is classic narrative drama: Bad-Men-Put-Woman-in-Peril. Fox News is on board, too, especially when they can show a White Christian woman in peril, describing the horrors that await her if the Taliban has its way. It is classic Fox. GOP and Fox News are in a muddle. Mitch McConnell is urging Biden to rescue Afghans. So is the corporate side of Fox, if not its on-air hosts. Fox reported on itself: We rescued people, including Muslims.
Biden has been slow to overrule the size limits on refugees implemented by Trump. Biden's hesitation appears to be his attempt to turn down the heat on the immigration issue. He was bending in the direction of Trump, sensing, accurately I believe, that there is growing un-ease by many Americans over the rate of immigration. The issue worked for Trump. Biden noticed.
We have not seen much of the conditions in Central America that pushed immigrant refugees here, but we see the conditions this week in Afghanistan. They challenge our humanity and our sense of obligation.
Biden concludes his formal speeches with a signature phrase, "And may God protect our troops." Biden has an opportunity to prove up. Let Afghans in. They protected our troops. Trump and Tucker Carlson will criticize. Their attack is a gift to Biden because it lets Biden stand firm in the face of attacks. It gives Biden a chance to look strong and resolute. Biden needs that.