The US government blames Trump for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan

The administration of US President Joe Biden has largely blamed the previous administration under Donald Trump for the problems with the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Biden was “severely constrained” in his decisions about how to implement the withdrawal by the conditions created by Trump, according to a report released Thursday by several intelligence agencies led by the National Security Council.

Biden was heavily criticized for withdrawing at the end of August 2021. Two weeks earlier, the Taliban had invaded the capital Kabul and seized power. A few days before the final withdrawal, dozens of Afghans and 13 US soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack outside Kabul airport.

The report blames Republican Trump for the unfavorable balance of power in Afghanistan at the time of Biden’s taking office. When Democrat Biden moved into the White House, the Taliban would be in their strongest military position since 2001. At the same time, there were only 2,500 US soldiers in Afghanistan, fewer than at any time during this period. The reason for this was an agreement that Trump concluded with the Taliban in February 2020. It was agreed that the United States would withdraw all soldiers from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the Taliban no longer wanted to attack US units. As a result, the US presence was greatly reduced, it said.

However, no plans for the final withdrawal or evacuation of the remaining US citizens and Afghan allies had been presented to the president by his predecessor. Biden then brought forward the deadline for the withdrawal in consultation with the Taliban, National Security Council communications director John Kirby said at a press briefing at the White House on Thursday.

However, the report suggests that Biden needed time to prepare for the exit. The document cites a statement by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin dated September 28, 2021, according to which there was clear information that the Taliban would continue their attacks against US forces if the agreement was not adhered to.

Finally, on August 31, the last American soldier left Afghanistan. With the withdrawal, the international military operation in Afghanistan came to an end after almost 20 years. It is considered the longest war in American history.

When the last US military plane took off from Kabul airport, dramatic scenes unfolded. Afraid of being left behind, people clung to an airplane’s landing gear and fell dead. Crowds gathered at the entrance to the airport in hopes of being deported. In this situation, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of one of the entrance gates in the midst of a crowd on August 26, killing several people.

Trump and other political opponents of Biden sharply criticized the report’s portrayal of events on Thursday. On Trump’s social network Truth Social, the former president described his successor and White House staff as “idiots” who, using disinformation, blamed him for “their blatantly incompetent surrender in Afghanistan.” “Biden is responsible, no one else!” Trump wrote. House Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said in a written statement: “President Biden made the decision to withdraw and even set the exact date. He is responsible for the huge mistakes in planning and execution. »

Kirby said Biden is responsible for US military operations and for the orders he gives as president. But Biden still believes the order to withdraw from Afghanistan was the right thing to do, Kirby said. The US is now strategically stronger and better placed to support Ukraine, meet its global security obligations and compete with China because it is not involved in a ground war in Afghanistan. He considers it a success that the US military managed to safely fly more than 124,000 people out of Afghanistan before they were withdrawn.

Kirby stressed that the dramatic developments surrounding the withdrawal in Afghanistan could not have been expected. The intelligence services predicted neither the swift takeover of power by the Taliban nor the swift flight of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The same goes for the fact that the more than 300,000 trained and equipped Afghan soldiers and security forces are not fighting for their country, Kirby said. The United States had assured the opposite from the Afghan side.

The report, released Thursday, is the summary of a study commissioned by the US government after the withdrawal of troops and the results of which were presented to Congress. You learned from the deduction. An earlier withdrawal is now a priority if the security situation at a site of operations deteriorates, the report said. (sda/dpa)