Kabul more reminiscent of Beirut ’83 than Saigon ’75

President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has been compared with the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. But in the wake of Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul, what we are seeing in Afghanistan is far worse than a repeat of Saigon, 1975; it is now a repeat of Beirut, 1983.

On Oct. 23, 1983, terrorists detonated a truck bomb at the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, killing 241 American service members who were participating in a peacekeeping operation. Three months later, after failing to retaliate in any meaningful fashion, President Ronald Reagan withdrew forces from Beirut. The decision to cut and run had disastrous consequences. Osama bin Laden tried to replicate the Beirutattack with his bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and then to exceed it with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Years later, bin Laden cited “the defeat of the American forces in Beirut” as proof that the United States was soft, and that if hit hard enough, we could be forced to retreat and withdraw.

This time we are not simply handing the country over to our enemies, as we did in Vietnam; we are leaving under fire, as we did in Beirut. And just as that retreat inspired America’s enemies to attack us on 9/11, if we pull out on Aug. 31 with our tail between our legs, it will send a signal of weakness certain to inspire terrorists around the world.

Instead of a speedy evacuation, we need an immediate show of strength. First, we should inform the Taliban that the United States holds it responsible for this attack. It stopped Americans and Afghans from reaching the airport, but somehow the bomber got through, and another struck at a nearby hotel. Whether letting the bomber through was intentional or simply a security failure, we should tell the Taliban it failed to meet its commitment to secure the airport and is thus responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen U.S. service members.

Second, we should inform the Taliban that because its failure has delayed the evacuation, we will not be leaving Tuesday and will not set another arbitrary deadline. We will depart once every American, and every Afghan ally, has been evacuated — and not a moment sooner. We should make clear this is not a request. They have no say in the matter.

Third, we should inform the Taliban that since it failed to establish a secure perimeter at the airport, we will do so. We are also retaking Bagram air base for use in evacuations. And we will conduct missions across the country to retrieve stranded Americans and their Afghan allies. Any interference in these operations will have severe consequences.

Finally, we should immediately deliver justice to those who attacked U.S. forces. In a speech Thursday, Biden warned the terrorists, “We will hunt you down and make you pay.” That will be hard to do if we withdraw our forces from the country this week.

.While Biden promised to strike back, it was his decision to hand Bagram air base over to the Taliban that allowed it to throw open a prison there, releasing 5,000 to 7,000 prisoners — who were free to threaten U.S. forces as they pulled out. The prison held the most senior and dangerous Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorist leaders. If any of them were involved in Thursday’s attack, that would be a searing indictment of Biden’s decision to give up Bagram before we withdrew.

But instead of being chastened, Biden used this deadly attack as justification to stick with his deadline, declaring this is “why I’ve been so determined to limit the duration of this mission.” In other words, the terrorists succeeded: By killing Americans, they reinforced Biden’s determination to retreat as fast as he can.

Withdrawing Tuesday will embolden our enemies and repeat the mistakes made in Beirut four decades ago. When the U.S. runs after a terrorist attack, the result is even more terrorism.