I can see the faces of warrior brothers and their families I fought alongside in Afghanistan. They’ve been marked for death. I feel physically sick.

I can see my Green Beret brothers, so many of them now gone. Bill Brown, my battle buddy through Operation Medusa, and Riley Stephens, the Green Beret medic who saved my life in that operation against the Taliban. They both died there. They both left daughters behind. I wear memorial bracelets for them as a reminder to try to live in a way that honors their ultimate sacrifice. 

Greg Stube recovering from massive injuries suffered in Afghanistan in an undated photograph

President Joe Biden has not honored their great sacrifice.

PA. STATE SEN. DOUG MASTRIANO: MESSAGE TO AFGHAN VETERANS – YOU GAVE YOUR ALL AND INSPIRED HOPE

I also see in my vivid memories of Afghanistan young girls being forbidden education and even medical care and women who’ve been beaten and raped. I can still see the bodies of women who were stoned to death. And I still see the pain in the eyes of the Green Berets around me as they somehow got what was left of me to a helicopter, so sure I wouldn’t live another five minutes.

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Though I spent a year in a hospital recovering, I came to the conclusion we needed to end the conflict honorably. I came to this conclusion because the Taliban was allowed to wait in relative safety in Pakistan for our resolve to weaken even as we gave Pakistan billions of dollars in aid.

That’s a failure of both Democrats and Republicans. It’s a failure of our State Department, Pentagon and the establishment in Washington, D.C. And now it’s a horrifying national embarrassment we will forever remember as Biden’s folly.

All our blood spilled means little now. The treasure we spent is now in the hands of the Taliban. They have our arms, our helicopters and even many of our citizens.

It didn’t have to be like this. This catastrophe was so avoidable.

The Biden administration violated the most basic elements of military operations.

Just a few weeks ago we only had 2,500 military members in country. We hadn’t had a casualty in 18 months. We were providing air support. Sure, things were never good in Afghanistan, but this didn’t have to happen.

This photo was taken in June 2011 on the day Greg Stube retired from the U_S_ Army at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, N.C.

We know exactly how to safely withdraw. It is part of our craft in the military.

The Biden administration violated the most basic elements of military operations. As a Green Beret, I’ve helped to win the peace in many areas of the world. They broke every rule I was taught by the U.S. Army.

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By giving us another Saigon, Biden has given the worst in Islamabad exactly what they wanted: a strategic victory that benefits the most radical in its anti-Western government. Will anyone in New Delhi now trust us enough to help as a counterweight to Beijing’s growing power? Will any other people anywhere in the world?

Campaign promises and spite for previous presidents should have nothing to do with how we conduct military operations. A timeline for withdrawal should never be made for purely political messaging and popularity.

And since when do we broadcast to our enemies the details and timelines for troop movements? Generals in the Pentagon should now be cleaning out their desks. A massive house cleaning should be taking place in the State Department.

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Instead, Biden is pointing fingers and blaming President Donald J. Trump and the Afghans who served but were suddenly left without air support. This is a failure of leadership. This is Biden’s folly.

We could have created a stable Afghanistan without further imperiling American lives. All it would have taken was a good leadership and the guts to play the geopolitical game from a position of strength.

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