- “There was no good time to withdraw” from Afghanistan after twenty years of war, assured Joe Biden
- Some criticize the White House for ignoring military warnings and discouraging Pentagon efforts to begin evacuation operations before the Taliban took Kabul
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Thursday strongly rejected the findings of a declassified report, reported by The Washington Post, in which military personnel criticize the White House’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“No, no, that’s not what I was told,” he replied to an NBC reporter questioning him about this document, which is based on interviews with several soldiers. They accuse the White House of having been in “denial” about what was happening in the country before the chaotic withdrawal last August.
“There was no good time to withdraw” from Afghanistan after twenty years of war, assured Joe Biden.
To the journalist who asked him if he rejected the conclusions of this report, the president replied, during an interview excerpts from which were broadcast on Thursday: “Yes. (…) I reject them.”
Which Is It, Joe?
Biden Rejects Army Report Saying Not Prepared for Failed Afghanistan Withdrawal…
…The Buck Stops Here
But I Wasn’t Told We Were Preparedhttps://t.co/UGyNIB5ax0— SkyMax ✝️ (@Sky_Max) February 11, 2022
The Washington Post reported Thursday on an internal investigation by the US military, which has been declassified and which, over 2,000 pages, accumulates numerous interviews with military personnel.
Some of them blame the White House for ignoring military warnings and discouraging Pentagon efforts to begin evacuation operations before the Taliban took Kabul.
According to the daily, the testimonies also show a chaotic organization of the evacuation operations of American nationals and Afghan auxiliaries, in the face of an influx of requests formulated by a multitude of interlocutors, emanating from the White House, Congress , veterans’ associations or the media.