Several establishment media outlets on Wednesday kept ripping the White House with what one outlet called “exceedingly bad” coverage continuing to bash President Joe Biden’s failures in withdrawing from Afghanistan.”
Punchbowl News highlighted the “exceedingly bad” press for the White House by acknowledging the front pages of three establishment newspapers: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
The Times’ on Wednesday splashed with, “Taliban Meet Public Protest With Violence,” which noted Biden’s withdrawal has given way to “the Taliban leadership” that may “not employ the same brutal rule it did two decades ago. But Taliban fighters in Jalalabad fired into a crowd and beat protesters during an outpouring of public anger at their rule”:
For the new Taliban government, the jarring images of violence at the protest — as well as images of people being beaten while trying to approach Kabul’s airport in an attempt to flee the country — have undermined their efforts to present themselves as responsible stewards of the government.
The Journal framed their headline, “Taliban Block Routes to Kabul Airport, Hampering Evacuations From Afghanistan.”
The article explained the challenges created by Biden’s poor evacuation of American citizens who are “stranded in Kabul after Sunday’s Taliban takeover” and “trickling into the city’s U.S.-controlled airport for evacuation flights, but entry remained extremely difficult, with Taliban checkpoints on most access roads and no clear system to bring people in”:
“The situation is very bad at the gate,” said Lida Ahmadi, who applied for a special immigrant visa for Afghans who had helped the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. “I slept on the road last night. Now, after two nights and two days at the gate, we’ve finally got the chance to come in. I am so happy now.”
Wapo’s front page read Wednesday morning, “Taliban says it will be more tolerant toward women. Some fear otherwise.” The article addressed the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan following Biden’s failed withdrawal, noting the “two decades of change, including hard-won rights for women, [came] crashing down”:
The last time the Taliban controlled the country, from 1996 to 2001, the group used severe methods to enforce an extreme interpretation of sharia law. Women were forced to wear burqas that covered the entire face and body, and those who went unaccompanied in public places faced beatings. Schools for girls were shuttered.
Punchbowl News observed another Times article that reported Biden “‘hasn’t just humiliated America’s Afghan allies… He’s humiliated his Western allies by demonstrating their impotence.'”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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