President Joe Biden says “no one made a mistake” in the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which ended in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a terrorist attack in Kabul, according to a new book. He says he is thinking about it.
After completing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden and his administration faced backlash over the failed operation. Gold Star families have repeatedly criticized Biden and called for his resignation. But despite the backlash, no one offered to resign, as Biden told his aides that “we support them,” Politico's Alexander Ward reports. write In “Internationalists: The fight to restore foreign policy after Trump” obtained Early Axios product. (Related: Biden quietly releases statement late at night on Afghanistan withdrawal anniversary)
After the withdrawal, Ward said, “No one offered to resign, mainly because the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake. It's always going to be tough to end a war.” insists.
“Biden told his aides. [National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan said he was on their side and that they did the best they could under difficult circumstances,” the book continues.
Axios said aides reportedly watched Biden make promises throughout the operation and knew the administration would not be able to keep them. After Biden promised that U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan until all willing Americans were evacuated, aides reportedly felt he could not keep that promise, Ward wrote.
“There's no one here who thinks we can deliver on that promise,” a senior White House official told Ward after Biden's remarks.
U.S. President Joe Biden, along with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R-Left), spoke about the ongoing evacuation of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. make a statement. August 20, 2021, from the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
After the withdrawal was completed, the Biden administration conducted an internal review of the operation in April 2023. The report faults former President Donald Trump for ordering contacts with the Taliban and leaving the Biden administration with no comprehensive plan on how to conduct the operation. And also about negotiating the withdrawal date.
White House National Security Council Press Secretary John Kirby Said In April 2023, the president said he was “proud” of how his administration conducted the withdrawal.
According to a previous book on the White House, Biden was on vacation at Camp David in August 2021 when he learned that Afghanistan was on the brink of collapse and “frustration exploded.” Prior to the withdrawal, several Biden administration staff members, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Franklin Foer, were placed on leave, detailed in the following report: are doing. Book“The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future.”
Foer said Biden yelled, “Give me a break.”
