The White House admitted on Thursday a failure of the intelligence services, but in general it defended the decision and the execution of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the only possible “scenario”.
The US president, Joe Biden, transmitted to Congress on Thursday the classified documents related to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, demanded for a long time in particular by the Republicans, and the White House took the opportunity to justify this decision that put an end, in August 2021, aa America’s longest war.
“Ultimately, after more than 20 years, more than $2 trillion spent, and the building of an Afghan army of 300,000 soldiers, the speed and ease with which the Taliban took control of Afghanistan suggests there was no other scenario. that could have changed the situation. trajectory barring a permanent and significantly strengthened US military presence,” according to this account distributed to the press.
The Taliban regained power even before the last American soldier left, and John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, a body directly linked to Joe Biden, admitted that the Maison Banche had not foreseen this lightning victory, nor the massive disaffection of the army and the Afghan authorities.
“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it”
“Clearly we were wrong” in terms of intelligence, he told a briefing, adding that Washington had also not “taken the full measure of the degree of corruption among Afghan officials.”
“Ending any war is not easy, certainly not after 20 years,” he stressed, however, adding: “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t sadness.”
A US withdrawal from Afghanistan “has always been the intention of President” Biden, the spokesman said. The Democrat has repeatedly explained that the US military, having successfully completed its initial mission, which was to counter the terrorist threat in Afghanistan, had to redeploy its forces to deal with other threats.
Disaster”?
The White House, for its part, instructed former Republican President Donald Trump: “It is also undeniable that the decisions made by the previous administration and the complete lack of preparation have clearly limited the options available.”
Donald Trump strongly criticized this statement, accusing the “fools in the White House” of blaming him for this “disaster.” “Biden is responsible, no one else!” He said on the Truth Social network about him.
John Kirby also praised the scale and speed of the US-led evacuation operation, which freed more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan in a few days through aerial rotations.
On August 30, 2021, one minute before midnight, the last US soldier had left the airport in the Afghan capital 24 hours before the deadline set by the US president for the withdrawal of troops from the country.
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Source: BFM TV
