US withdrawal from Afghanistan: Biden government makes serious allegations against Trump

Dhe US government has published a report on the hasty withdrawal of its own military from Afghanistan. In the report, the administration of US President Joe Biden largely blamed his predecessor Donald Trump for the withdrawal, which was widely viewed as a failure. Biden was “severely constrained” in his decisions about how to carry out the withdrawal by the conditions created by Trump, according to the 12-page report by various intelligence agencies led by the National Security Council.

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

Referring to Trump, it goes on to say that in February 2020 the US promised the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack US troops. Biden was then faced with this tight schedule, the report said. Otherwise the Taliban would have attacked the US and allied units.

In April 2021, Biden announced that he would unconditionally withdraw all US soldiers from Afghanistan by September 11 at the latest. In July, Biden brought forward the full withdrawal date to August 31. But by August 15, the Taliban had captured the Afghan capital, Kabul.

With the withdrawal, the international military operation in the country ended after almost 20 years. The Afghanistan mission is considered the longest US war in history. Biden was heavily criticized after the withdrawal.

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

One learned from the deduction, it said in the report. Since then, an earlier withdrawal has been prioritized if the security situation at a location deteriorated.