Florida diner owner puts up signpost asking Biden supporters to stay away in the wake of Afghanistan chaos

The owner of the diner claims a chunk of her regular customers are military veterans

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Wednesday 01 September 2021 10:14 BST
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Biden defends ending 'forever war' in Afghanistan

The owner of a Florida diner, angry over the killing of 13 US Marines in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, is no longer welcoming supporters of President Joe Biden to her business.

A sign posted on the window of the DeBary Diner in Volusia County asks potential customers to turn around if they are Mr Biden's supporters, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

“If you voted for and continue to support and stand behind the worthless, inept and corrupt administration currently inhabiting the White House that is complicit in the death of our servicemen and women in Afghanistan, please take your business elsewhere,” the sign, posted on Thursday, read.

Angie Ugarte, the owner of the diner, said it was the only thing she felt she could do in the wake of the 26 August bombings. “I was just angry. I was just let down. I felt like one of those mothers, or wives, or sisters who were gonna get that knock on the door,” Ms Ugarte was quoted as saying by local TV network Fox 35 Orlando.

She claimed a section of her diner's regular customers were military veterans. An entire wall inside the eatery is reportedly devoted to the US military and features military photos and flags.

Her show of anger against the Biden administration, however, predictably invoked mixed responses from people, who have chosen to either praise or attack the decision to display the sign.

During the last leg of evacuations, suicide bombers outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US military men. Terror outfit Isis-K, which considers both the Taliban and the US its enemy, took responsibility for the attack.

Following the bombings, Mr Biden vowed to conduct airstrikes against the terror outfit. “We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay,” he said in an address to the nation.

The last soldier climbed aboard a Boeing C-17 Globemaster before dawn on Tuesday, marking the end of the US’s 20-year-long war in Afghanistan.

Over 123,000 people, including 6,000 American citizens, have been airlifted out of Afghanistan since 14 August, according to the Pentagon.

However, at least 100-200 Americans and thousands of Afghan allies have been left behind in Kabul and are still waiting to flee the country.

Defending his move to exit Afghanistan amid scathing criticism, Mr Biden on Wednesday said: “I was not going to extend this forever war.”

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