Yesterday, the last C-17 transport plane lifted off from Kabul, Afghanistan, and with it, the end of the United States’ evacuation mission. Hundreds of Americans have been left behind along with countless Afghan allies with SIV status, many of whom were passed over for a mass of general asylum seekers.

But as the administration uses the out-of-context total number of evacuees in order to take a victory lap before the funerals of 13 dead US soldiers have even happened yet, Never Trump has figured out who’s really to blame here: you.

In a completely shocking development, those who spent two decades propagating the war in Afghanistan, ignoring the corruption and incompetence, and who then had the hubris to support Joe Biden have no desire to accept any responsibility at all for their choices.

The starkest example of this comes from Max Boot, though, others are doing this act more subtly.

70% of Americans wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan, and 81% wanted to evacuate translators and other allies. Our leaders were simply giving the American people what they thought we wanted.  https://t.co/Q0EKanNyXX

— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) August 29, 2021

I must have missed the part where Americans wanted dead American soldiers and Afghans falling from the sky as a result of an incredibly idiotic, sloppy, ill-planned evacuation that saw us allying with the Taliban. Where was that poll question?

But what’s so rich about this is that Max Boot is part of a pro-war class that brought us to this point. For decades, it was clear Afghanistan had become a money sink, with corrupt politicians and a military-industrial complex more concerned with garnering blank checks than taking the necessary steps to clean up the mess they had made. For every “we have to fight them over there” plea, there were ten ridiculous obfuscations from what was actually happening “over there.”

Americans wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan precisely because of the incompetence they had witnessed for so long. What they didn’t want was that same incompetence to show its face during the withdrawal itself. If I pay a company to cater dinner and they burn everything, they don’t get to blame me for asking them to cater the dinner. The American people are not to blame for wanting to leave. No, those who built this disaster and then decided to screw it up one last time are.

But while Boot was content to just go full Leroy Jenkins, other Never Trumpers decided to beat around the bush a bit.

The most powerful nation in the world *chose* to leave behind 250 of its own citizens. Unconscionable. https://t.co/WXmCr0LQXY

— David French (@DavidAFrench) August 31, 2021

No, this was not a collective failure of the “nation.” This was the failure of Joe Biden, and by virtue of that, everyone downstream from him in his administration. The president made the decision to push the original, conditions-based withdrawal date back three months, giving the Taliban time to amass and take over the country. A photo op on 9/11 took precedence over the lives of Americans, and the results of that have been laid bare.

Those who fluffed Biden leading up to the 2020 election own that. They do not get to pretend that they didn’t spend their time talking about a return of norms and decency while emoting about the evils of mean tweets.

The American people are not to blame for this mess. Joe Biden and those who supported him are. Never Trumpers don’t get to run from that now that things have collapsed.