ANDREW NEIL: It was the most contemptible speech by a U.S. president in modern times – a speech that shames America and leaves its global reputation in the dirt.
And given that, until last January, the White House was occupied for four years by a certain Donald J. Trump (bottom inset), there couldn’t be a more damning criticism of President Joe Biden (left, right).
Much of his address to the U.S. on Monday was Orwellian. In his classic novel 1984, set in a totalitarian dystopia, George Orwell created a Ministry of Peace which waged war, a Ministry of Truth which peddled lies, a Ministry of Love which tortured dissidents and a Ministry of Plenty which oversaw starvation.
Biden matched all of that and more with his own defiant doublethink, involving distortions, the rewriting of history, and nonsense and untruths that even Trump would struggle to rival.
His abject surrender to the Taliban was dressed up as political reality and common sense. His scuttle from Kabul, still ongoing, was depicted as geopolitical wisdom and a refocusing of U.S. priorities.
Any mistakes or problems were the faults of others, from Trump to the Afghan army
