Wednesday, the chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden defended the messy pullout from Afghanistan, stating that 2022 will be the first year in this century in which no Americans would have died fighting in the country.
This week, the Taliban celebrated the anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan, while diplomatic and military leaders reminisced on 20 years of conflict – thousands of American lives lost and trillions of dollars spent – that finally returned the country to Islamist extremists.
Last year, Biden’s own military advisers attempted to convince him to keep several thousand troops in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from seizing control.
General Frank McKenzie, who led the evacuation, stated last week that he would have begun evacuating people sooner to prevent such pandemonium.
However, White House chief of staff Ron Klain dismissed the criticism.
‘I must emphasize that when President Biden assumed office, he decided to stop a 20-year conflict,’ he told MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
And 2022 is the first year in the 21st century in which no Americans will die fighting in Afghanistan.
“This is the first year in the 21st century that American taxpayers are not contributing $300 million per day to a government that fled when the violence in Afghanistan escalated last year.
‘Therefore, I believe it was time for the president’s choice to declare, ‘Look, the American people have sent their sons and daughters to this country for 20 years and paid with their lives, and the American taxpayers have invested in this army for 20 years.’
It was time for our people to return home. The time had come to terminate this fight. Last year, the rushed evacuation of US forces and civilians sparked chaos at the Kabul airport as desperate Afghans attempted to flee the Taliban.
A terrorist utilized the pandemonium to approach a checkpoint and detonate a suicide bomb, resulting in the deaths of thirteen American servicemen.
However, Klain ignored them while defending Biden’s decision to proceed with the withdrawal.
He was replying to McKenzie’s criticism, which stated that Biden’s April announcement to resign determined the direction of the last weeks of the war and the Taliban takeover.
He stated, “There are numerous things I would do differently.”
“However, I will tell you that I feel what transpired in August of last year occurred in April of that year, when we resolved to depart altogether.”
And once you made that fundamental decision, events took on a particular course.
He stated that he had spent a great deal of time contemplating the exodus and the 20 years of conflict.
Specifically, he stated that the evacuation should have began earlier.
He added, “Well, I’ll tell you I wish we had started bringing folks out earlier.”
“You always return and evaluate that.” I wish we had anticipated that. I wish we had taken a different approach.
Klain applauded McKenzie while disagreeing with his evaluation.
He stated, “I have the utmost regard for General Mackenzie, who commanded our men with integrity and led this evacuation effort.”
On Monday, Taliban militants celebrated the one-year anniversary of their return to power in Kabul by chanting victory slogans adjacent to the US embassy.
The rigidity Last year, as American soldiers withdrew, the Islamists conquered Kabul following a lightning-fast national attack.
Niamatullah Hekmat, a rebel who invaded the capital on August 15, 2017, just hours after then-president Ashraf Ghani departed the nation, declared, “We completed the obligation of jihad and liberated our country.”
“Today is a day of victory and joy for the Afghan Muslims and people.” It is the day of the conquering and victory of the white flag,’ tweeted government spokesman Bilal Karimi.