WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Monday tied Vice President Kamala Harris to the messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan. AFP reported that it was Trump who, as president in 2020, struck a deal with Afghan Taliban for the US to withdraw its forces from the war-hit nation.
But it was President Joe Biden who, following delaying it by a few months, finally executed the retreat in 2021, one of the administration’s lowest points, AFP added.
Donald Trump often slams Biden over it, but has pivoted to blaming Kamala Harris for White House policy decisions since she replaced Biden as his rival for the White House. He argued that the “humiliation” of the withdrawal destroyed Washington credibility and was “caused by Harris and Biden.”
“Now, the voters will fire Kamala Harris and Joe Biden on November 5 race, we express hope, and when I take office, I will get the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan catastrophe to be on my desk at noon on inauguration day,” Trump claimed.
Afghan Taliban seized Kabul on August 15, 2021, following the US-backed government collapsed days ahead of the planned withdrawal date and its leadership fled into exile.
The White House also released a classified review of the withdrawal in April last year, admitting intelligence failures but blaming Donald Trump for creating the conditions leading to the retreat.
In a declassified summary, the administration stated that the February 2020 agreement between Trump and Afghan Taliban had placed the incoming Biden’s administration in an impossible position by agreeing a date for withdrawal of forces, but providing no plan for implementing it.
