Biden criticizes Trump’s review of Afghanistan withdrawal decisions as he delivers to Congress – CNN

Snoring
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The administration of President Joe Biden has criticized the conditions created by President Donald Trump in the dark withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, according to the summary of findings issued by the administration after the action of the review of the fifth.

The 12-page summary document clearly does not admit errors. Nevertheless, he acknowledges some of the lessons that have been used, including the speed of sending citizens and allies. And he brings intelligence that projections of the security situation are too rosy and Biden’s brand has been followed by warnings from military leaders during the inauguration.

Overall, the difficult situation has been made more difficult by Trump’s decisions since he was in office, including entering into a pact with the Taliban requiring US forces to withdraw by May 2021.

The findings of long-awaited reviews by the State Department and the Pentagon were also delivered to Congress on Thursday, fulfilling a White House pledge to release information following a bloody and chaotic crackdown that included a deadly shooting at Kabul International Airport that killed 13. U. forces.

In remarks summarized in the report, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby defended Biden’s decision to step down and work in the light of the administration.

“Although limited by his options, President Biden led a deliberate, rigorous and inclusive decision-making process that responded to the facts on the ground. The need for proper regulation,” Kirby said, pointedly pointed out.

He rejected the idea of ​​a dark retreat.

“To all this chaos discussion, I just didn’t see it,” he said.

Decisions by the Trump administration “severely constrained” Biden’s options for stepping down, the summary reads. Biden says he inherited a situation in which “the Taliban were in the strongest military position they’ve been in since 2001, controlling or fighting nearly half the country.”

The report cites the agreement Trump reached with the Taliban in 2020, arguing that Biden’s options are limited to withdrawing American forces. Kirby also said the Trump administration provided little information or intelligence to the incoming Biden team about the situation in Afghanistan.

“Transitions matter – this is the first lesson here. And the management of the incoming one did not provide much,” said Kirby.

Responding to the findings, a spokesman for Trump said, “Biden and his administration are trying to collude with the American people because of the disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan, which has directly led to the deaths of Americans and emboldened terrorists.”

Summary Biden ardently defended ordering any withdrawal, which he justified as necessary to end the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

“There were no signs that more time, more money, or more Americans would have risked Afghanistan on a fundamentally different trajectory,” the summary reads.

A lot of chaos surrounded the retreat, involving attempts to withdraw Americans and Afghans who were helping the war effort, including translators. One of the most poignant images from the time was Afghans desperately clinging to an American plane that took off, then falling to their deaths.

After the chaotic attempts to deport US citizens and those who supported the American war effort, the administration said it is now working to facilitate progress before working on other situations.

“We are now carrying out evacuations with a disgraceful view of the security situation,” the summary states, using the war in Ukraine as an example of previous evacuations.

Similarly, management will more assertively communicate the risks of remaining in unsafe situations.

“In establishing a security environment, we are now erring on the side of aggressive communication about risks,” the summary reads.

Many federal agencies have undergone reviews following the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Their release was initially targeted for the one-year anniversary of the chicks, but there were delays as the agencies completed their work.

An after-action report was commissioned by the National Defense University, a defense official told CNN. The NDU is funded by the Department of Defense, but officials have described the review of the NDU as “independent.”

After the US withdrawal in August 2021, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban quickly returned to power.

The bombing outside the gates of Kabul International Airport also killed 13 US service members – 11 sailors, 1 soldier and 1 sailor – along with about 170 Afghans.

President Joe Biden ordered reviews to determine what went wrong.

“Look at us from all sides to the bottom,” he said.

When he took control of the US House of Representatives, Republicans also began to look at the withdrawal in Afghanistan, requesting documents and communications as part of their investigation.

This story has been updated with additional information.