The tension in Ukraine just got ratcheted up to Afghanistan levels.

While the United States is not in the same position of control in Ukraine that we were in Afghanistan, the message from the State Department on Sunday evening left little to the imagination. Officials had begun to tell the press within the last 24 hours that the family members of the American embassy staff were going to be ordered out of Ukraine in advance of whatever might be happening. The State Department made it official on Sunday evening.

On January 23, 2022, the Department of State authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. direct hire employees (USDH) and ordered the departure of eligible family members (EFM) from Embassy Kyiv due to the continued threat of Russian military action. U.S. citizens in Ukraine should consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation options.”

There are reports Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine. The security conditions, particularly along Ukraine’s borders, in Russia-occupied Crimea, and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine, are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice. Demonstrations, which have turned violent at times, regularly occur throughout Ukraine, including in Kyiv.”

Read between the lines, and read what Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin heard from the State Department to the media.

State Dept: “We've authorised the departure of some US government employees, but we have ordered the departure of all family members of US government employees at our Embassy in Kiev. The State Department has also elevated our travel advisory for Ukraine to level four.”

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) January 24, 2022

If it isn’t clear, this is the State Department saying to Americans “if you stay, you are ON YOUR OWN and will get no help from us.”

Why yes, this sounds like Afghanistan all over again, doesn’t it? Let’s just say that people are noticing that the commitment from the Biden administration is quite lacking when it comes to warning and evacuating American citizens.

I remember, in my 20s, arguing with someone that one of the great benefits of being an American was that no matter what, and no matter where, my country was going to come get me. Whoops.

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) January 24, 2022

But one has to appreciate the way the State Department phrases the current “level 4: do not travel” warning.

State Department: do not travel to Ukraine due to imminent war… and COVID pic.twitter.com/mz4a2JGQyU

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) January 23, 2022

Good to know that per the State Department, COVID-19 is just as big a threat compared to a Russian invasion.

Do we know how many American civilians are in Ukraine? Probably not, as Jen Psaki liked to remind everyone when it came to Afghanistan and the ever-shifting numbers as to how many Americans had been left behind in that country. Because American citizens are not required to register at an embassy once they arrive in another country, the United States doesn’t have accurate numbers for how many of our citizens are in any given country. And usually that isn’t a problem, until the Biden administration throws up its hands as says “wait, they took over the country in a week???”

However, the State Department, in issuing this order, is making it clear that they are not anticipating a “minor incursion.” When you look at a map of Ukraine, Kyiv is not close to where the occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk are (all on the eastern border of the country). Kyiv is right in the middle north of the country, very close to the border with Belarus. Yes, Belarus, home to Putin’s buddy Alexander Lukashenko, who once forced down an airplane to arrest a journalist, then made that journalist “confess” his “crimes” on Belarus TV. Would Lukashenko look the other way if Putin decided to use Belarus as a launching point to get to Kyiv? Well, as Ed Morrissey points out, Russia just sent fighter jets to Belarus for “military exercises.” How conveeeeeeeeeeenient.

This is the Biden administration’s legacy. The State Department simply tells Americans to get out, while Biden and Harris sit by and let nations get overrun. And just think of all the years that we had to listen to “Trump is a Russian puppet!!!” while Biden melts like half-set Jello in order to not annoy Vladimir Putin. I’m thinking that the president of Ukraine would rather have a weird phone call from Donald Trump right now, than the message coming loud and clear from Joe Biden that a “minor incursion” isn’t THAT big a deal and he should just get over it and let Putin have some more of his country.

All American civilians in Ukraine need to leave immediately. The Biden administration has already proved that they won’t be coming back to help if you get left behind, and this time, they are being upfront about it. We’ve come a long way from Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” to Biden’s “run away, run away” foreign policy strategy – and that is deeply sad.

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Featured image via Leonhard_Niederwimmer on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license