US publishes report on withdrawal from Afghanistan

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In panic, people clung to planes in Kabul, trying to seize the last chance to leave Afghanistan. After US forces began a full withdrawal on September 11, 2021, it was an easy game for the Taliban to regain control. US President Joe Biden (80) repeatedly emphasized that he was behind the trigger. “It was time to end this war,” he said – and he lost support.

The US government has now published a report on the hasty withdrawal of its own army from Afghanistan. In the report, the Biden administration largely blamed his predecessor Donald Trump, 76, for the withdrawal, which was widely seen as a failure. According to the 12-page report from several intelligence agencies led by the National Security Council, Biden was “severely constrained” in his decisions about how to conduct the withdrawal by Trump-created conditions.

When Biden took office, the Taliban were in their strongest military position since 2001, it said. At the same time, there were only 2,500 US soldiers in Afghanistan, fewer than at any other time during the same period.

Chaos reigns in Kabul on August 15

Referring to Trump, the US is said to have promised the Taliban in February 2020 to withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack US forces. Biden then faced this tight schedule, the report said. Otherwise, the Taliban would have attacked the US and allied units.

In April 2021, Biden announced an unconditional withdrawal of all US soldiers from Afghanistan by September 11. In July, Biden brought forward the full withdrawal date to August 31. But on August 15, the Taliban had captured the Afghan capital Kabul.

Afghans and Americans were killed

With the withdrawal, the international military operation in the country came to an end after almost 20 years. The mission in Afghanistan is considered the longest US war in history. Biden was widely criticized after the withdrawal.

The last US troops left Afghanistan at the end of August 2021. During the evacuation operation, dozens of Afghans and 13 US soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack outside Kabul airport. IS, which is hostile to the radical Islamic Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. In mid-August, the Taliban seized power in Kabul.

You learned from the deduction, the report said. Since then, an earlier withdrawal takes precedence if the security situation at a location deteriorates. (SDA/jwg)

Source: Blick