Politics

Secretary of State Blinken says Trump, Afghan military are to blame for Taliban takeover

Antony Blinken said Sunday that the blame for the taliban takeover lies on Trump, Republicans and Afghan military.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a statement in regards to how the Taliban was able to overtake Afghanistan so quickly, explaining, “That is the Taliban we inherited. And so we saw that they are very much capable of going on the offensive and beginning to take back the country.” The Biden administration has repeatedly claimed that they inherited this disaster from the Trump administration. Much of the current situation in Afghanistan is not because US troops were withdrawn, but the manner in which they were withdrawn that is being called into question.

Biden announced that all troops would be withdrawn by September 11th 2021 and recently stated that a Taliban takeover was “highly unlikely” even though intelligence reporting showed otherwise. The Biden administration attempted to continue the execution of Trumps withdrawal plan but without giving any conditions in which the residing Afghan government and the Taliban would have to adhere to.

Blinken explained that despite having built up the Afghan military, they were unable defend their country and “that has happened more quickly than we anticipated.” Biden recently stated he inherited a Taliban “in the strongest position militarily since 2001.”

Under Trumps administration, a plan to withdrawal our troops from Afghanistan was created and begun to be executed. Kash Patel, former chief of staff at the Pentagon, explained in an article for the New York Post that their plan revolved around the Taliban and Afghan government understanding that “they would face the full force of the US military if they caused any harm to Americans or American interests in Afghanistan” in order to preserve national interest and protect Americans.

Patel continued, “both parties would negotiate to create an interim-joint government, and both sides had to repudiate al Qaeda. Lastly, a small special-operations force would be stationed in the country to take direct action against any terrorist threats that arose. When all those conditions were met — along with other cascading conditions — then a withdrawal could, and did, begin.”

The Trump administration executed this plan with no US casualties, multiple successful negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban rendering al Queda virtually powerless, and the lowest number of troops in the region since the start of the War on Terror all resulting in the start of a successful withdrawal (New York Post).

ARTICLE: BEBE BOUDREAU

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE
PHOTO CREDITS: THE PRINT

Leave a Reply