Joe Biden's self-created image of foreign policy savvy has taken a serious blow

Joe Biden's self-created image of foreign policy expertise has taken a serious blow. In a single week, the US military admitted to a disastrous air strike that only killed innocent Afghan civilians and Biden himself made an announcement that caused a serious rupture in relations with America's oldest ally. Though neither was intended, both arose from the President's attempts to put his stamp on the globe.

The deaths of Afghan civilians -- including seven children -- in an airstrike outside the Kabul airport in August were a tragic mistake made by US forces who believed they were attacking an ISIS-K car bomber. They took place in a fevered atmosphere of fear and uncertainty during the chaotic US evacuation from Afghanistan, with US leaders desperate to prevent a repeat of the suicide bomb that killed 13 US service personnel and over 170 others. The Pentagon's admission that it made a mistake makes the White House claim that the US pullout was an extraordinary success seem even more hollow.