White House says Donald Trump ‘severely constrained’ options on Afghanistan pullout

The White Home sought guilty a scarcity of preparation by the Trump administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, in a abstract of stories on the elimination of American forces from the nation.

“President Biden’s decisions for find out how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan have been severely constrained by circumstances created by his predecessor,” in accordance with the 12-page White Home account of labeled stories shared with Congress on Thursday.

The Biden administration has been closely criticised for misreading the scenario on the bottom in Afghanistan earlier than it withdrew troops in August 2021, and for ploughing forward with the pullout even because the Taliban captured the nation’s foremost cities and took management of Kabul, the capital.

As hundreds of individuals trying to flee the nation surrounded Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport within the last days of the US’s navy presence, a terrorist assault on the gates of the airport killed plenty of individuals, together with Afghan civilians and 13 members of the US navy.

The abstract report accused Donald Trump of constructing a rushed cope with the Taliban for the elimination of American forces with out outlining a plan to satisfy that objective. A spokesperson for the previous president didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

The Biden administration additionally acknowledged intelligence errors that didn’t predict the fast deterioration of the safety scenario and the Taliban’s means to swiftly overtake the nation.

In a tacit acknowledgment that the US ought to have begun the evacuation of Individuals and allies from Afghanistan sooner, the Biden administration stated it had since altered its insurance policies, and consequently prioritised “earlier evacuations” when confronted with “degrading” safety conditions in Ukraine and Ethiopia.

“When the capitals of each international locations have been threatened, the president directed changes within the posture of the embassies by drawing down or evacuating embassy personnel,” the report stated.

US Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby stated on Thursday that President Joe Biden stood by his selections and had not acquired any intelligence predicting the Taliban would take over Kabul so swiftly or that Afghanistan’s then-president Ashraf Ghani would flee the nation.

“First and most critically, the president’s resolution to finish the conflict in Afghanistan was the precise one,” Kirby stated.

Within the lead-up to the evacuation of American troops, the Biden administration privately warned in regards to the potential threat of collapse however didn’t “broadcast loudly and publicly” a possible worst-case state of affairs to keep away from signalling a insecurity in Afghanistan’s safety forces or authorities, the report stated.

The US stated it now eschews this method and “[errs] on the aspect of aggressive communication about dangers”, reminiscent of when it launched intelligence within the lead-up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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