He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him—a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America. The withdrawal would be guided by facts on the ground.
After I took out ISIS, I established a credible deterrent. That deterrent is now gone. The Taliban no longer has fear or respect for America, or America’s power.
What the hell is he talking about. The facts are:
1. On 9/11 2019, he invited the Taliban to Camp David to discuss peace.
2. The Taliban refused as they did not want to be seen as capitulating to the USA. So, Trump agreed to switch the venue to Doha, Qatar, where the entire Taliban leadership was living in luxury.
3. In doing so, Trump undercut the Afghan government, which was negotiating with the Taliban in Doha, handing the Taliban an opportunity to impose their terms. The Art of the Deal master ended up with a deal that isolated the Afghan government and committed the US to a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021 in return for the Taliban to agree to discuss sharing the government, something they had already been negotiating over with Kabul, for several years.
4. When Biden took office, the focus shifted to a more credible timeframe for withdrawal and a way to keep the Kabul airport open to all, including foreign nationals and diplomatic missions. Turkey stepped in and agreed to be the third party running the Kabul airport and guaranteeing free passage. A new withdrawal deadline was set for 9/11 2021.
So, where is the the alleged plan left by the Trump administration? Answer: it does not exist, that is beyond the agreement that was signed in 2020. Any idea what the plan is?
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Two months ago, Trump was crowing about how Biden was forced to follow the Trump withdrawal plan:
Trump on Afghanistan, June 26, 2021:
“I started the process. All the troops are coming back home. They couldn’t stop the process. Twenty-one years is enough, don't we think? Twenty-one years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process when other things were... Yeah, thank you.
It's a shame. Twenty-one years by a government that wouldn't last. The only way they last is if we're there. What are we gonna say? We'll stay for another twenty-one years, then we'll stay for another fifty? The whole thing is ridiculous."
And then "GOP Removes Page Praising Donald Trump's 'Historic' Peace Deal With Taliban" https://www.newsweek.com/gop-removes-webpage-praising-trumps-historic-peace-deal-taliban-1619605
Here's part of what they deleted:
On February 2, 2020 , the Trump Administration signed a preliminary peace agreement with the Taliban that sets the stage to end America's longest war.
Under the agreement , the U.S. will withdraw nearly 5,000 troops from the country in 135 days in exchange for a Taliban agreement to not allow Afghanistan to be used for transnational terrorism.
