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Biden contradicts his own administration's report on Afghanistan: "Read your press, I was right"

The State Department asserted in a recently declassified document that the Biden and Trump administrations failed to properly assess what would happen if the U.S. withdrew its troops.

Joe Biden en una conferencia de prensa.

Joe Biden en una conferencia de prensa.

Published by
Santiago Ospital

Was the withdrawal from Afghanistan a failure? Were there mistakes? The president and his administration cannot seem to agree.

Hours after the State Department declassified a report acknowledging errors during the end of the American intervention in Afghanistan, Joe Biden denied these claims in a press conference.

"Mr. President, do you admit failure in Afghanistan? Mistakes?" a reporter asked last Friday as Biden was leaving the room where he spoke with the press. The journalist alluded to the declassified document and repeated the question. The Democratic leader turned around and returned to the podium only to respond:

Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said Al Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.

Criticism of the withdrawal

Senior officials did not imagine the worst-case scenarios. Key leaders were not given the necessary authority to accomplish tasks. Intransigent political positions were taken which ignored dissenting opinions. Those are some of the flaws pointed out by the State Department, but they are not the only ones. Criticisms were swirling after Biden's public denial.

"Biden promised a safe and orderly withdrawal and that it was 'highly unlikely' the Taliban would take over Afghanistan," tweeted the Republican National Committee's RNC Research group. "Instead, there was absolute chaos, the Taliban took over, and 13 servicemembers were killed."

RNC Research also retrieved a video it had released in 2021 with excerpts of the president's remarks on pulling the troops:

International correspondent Tajuden Soroush recalled that the president's words contradict a recent UN report. Published in June, the document goes so far as to say that the terrorist group sees Afghan territory as a "safe haven," and is resuming activities there.

"We consider remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden about the nonexistence of armed groups in Afghanistan as acknowledgement of reality," said the Taliban Foreign Ministry, taking the opportunity to deny the UN findings, in statements picked up by Radio Free Europe.

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