Blinken Defends US Withdrawal from Afghanistan in Congressional Meeting
The chaotic and hasty withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan has put the Biden administration facing a serious crisis. Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, defended the US government’s actions against sharp criticism from representatives.
Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, rejected all harsh criticism from Republican representatives regarding the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan during a meeting of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
During a video conference with committee members on Tuesday, September 13 (Shahrivar 22), he stated: “Even the most pessimistic predictions did not suggest that the Kabul government would collapse while American forces were still there.”
The US Secretary of State emphasized that Joe Biden had stated even before the presidential election that either American forces must withdraw from Afghanistan or the war against Taliban militants would intensify.
Michael McCaul, a senior Republican representative on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan “an unprecedented epic tragedy.” He said: “I never thought I would experience an unconditional surrender to the Taliban in my lifetime.”
However, Blinken attributed the primary cause of the chaos in the American withdrawal from Afghanistan not to the Biden administration but to the Republican Trump administration. He recalled that Trump had agreed with the Taliban on a deadline for withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan by May 1st, and had made no plans for it.
The US Secretary of State said: “We inherited a deadline that had no plan behind it.” He also defended the Biden administration’s commitment to its decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan by August 31st.
In this regard, he said: “There is no indication that our staying longer would have increased the resistance capacity of Afghanistan’s security forces and government or made them more independent.”
Blinken continued: “When 20 years of time and hundreds of millions of dollars in support, equipment, and training have been of no benefit, why should one, five, or ten more years be beneficial?”
Referencing American military equipment that fell into the hands of the Taliban, Blinken stated that this issue “has no great strategic value.” According to him, this equipment “is either not usable now or will soon become unusable due to lack of maintenance and repair.”
Source: DW
