A Tale of 2 Cities That Fell--Saigon and Kabul One a Job Well Done the Other CIC Shame

 

When Obama became president Michelle to the nation revealed
It was the first time she was proud to be an American her thoughts heretofore concealed
Having seen the conga line inching up to the Embassy roof in Saigon
This poet felt not shame but a recognition that finally we would from Vietnam be gone
Trapped in a war we could not win started by  phantom North Vietnamese PT boat attacks
Where windblown waves turned out in retrospect to be bogus torpedo tracks
Bogus attacks on the USS Maddox and  the USS Turner Joy
Gave us the rush to judgment Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to ground combat troops deploy
Followed by years of grief and over 58,000 military dead
Thousands upon thousands more wounded with their blood shed
Finally to the Anti-Vietnam War movement relief on March 29, 1973 the last military units withdrew
The South Vietnamese fought on as the military pressure from the North steadily grew
When in the spring of 1975 as the North wasLdvancing to Saigon
Ford implemented plans to insure if Saigon fell Americans would be gone
The North Vietnamese gunners tracked our planes and helicopters evacuating but did not fire
Like what would have happened in Afghanistan later they knew that Americans would not return once the need for evacuations had expired
All Americans had been evacuated and thousands of South Vietnamese before the tanks crashed through the palace gates
Thousands more South Vietnamese left by boat to U.S. Navy vessels who let them board to avoid a deadly fate
Hundreds more by South Vietnamese pilots who landed choppers on carrier decks
Then to make room for those following they were pushed over the side to eject
No Americans were left behind unlike the chaos in Afghanistan
Like Michelle for this poet feelings of shame he could not withstand
Instead of bold leadership to keep Bagram Airbase open until Americans and Afghan allies were able to leave
A feckless cognitively challenged Biden pulled the plug to a complete collapse of Afghan Army achieve
Americans left behind along with Afghan allies begging to be able to get out
While our feckless State Department and military brass a successful evacuation tout
So now this once feared and respected nation is groveling at the Taliban’s feet
For their good graces and help to be able to board planes from Qatar’s commercial airlines fleet
Psaki beams that the Taliban is being professional and business like
Same terms to apply to the mob extorting cash you must pay or they strike
Sad day for America on the eve of the 20^th anniversary of the jihadists crashing 4 suicide planes
Our ship of state with a captain with dementia at the helm as our accomplishments in Afghanistan go down the drain
© September 10, 2021 The Alaskanpoet