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It was Trump, as president in 2020, who made a deal with the Taliban for the United States to withdraw from the country. President Joe Biden ultimately carried out the withdrawal in 2021 after delaying it for a few months read more
 "Trump ties Kamala Harris to 'humiliation' of Afghanistan troops withdrawal")
This combination photo shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaking during a presidential debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, left, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaking during a Democratic presidential primary debates, July 31, 2019, in Detroit. AP
Former US President Donald Trump on Monday (August 26) connected Vice President Kamala Harris to the disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was paying tribute to 13 troops killed in a suicide attack on the third anniversary of their deaths.
It was Trump, as president in 2020, who made a deal with the Taliban for the United States to withdraw from the country.
However, President Joe Biden ultimately carried out the withdrawal in 2021 after delaying it for a few months. That marked one of the lowest points of his administration.
Afghanistan withdrawal: Trump’s mess or Biden’s?
Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021, after the collapse of the US-backed government days before the planned withdrawal date, leading to its leaders fleeing the country.
On August 26 that year, a suicide bomb attack at the crowded perimeter of Kabul’s international airport killed 13 US troops and 170 Afghans. The attack occurred during an unprecedented military airlift operation that successfully evacuated more than 120,000 people from the country in a matter of days.
Before US troops were able to secure the whole airport, the world witnessed tragic scenes of panicked Afghan civilians mobbing airliners and even falling to their deaths as they attempted to cling onto departing planes.
In April last year, the White House declassified a review of the Afghanistan withdrawal. It acknowledged intelligence failures, but blamed Trump for creating the conditions leading to the fiasco.
The administration said that the February 2020 deal between Trump and the Taliban, which agreed on a date for withdrawal but did not provide an execution plan, had placed the incoming Biden government in an impossible position.
Trump’s campaign attacks Harris
Before Trump began his speech, his campaign brought up previous statements from Harris where she said she was the last person in the room before Biden made the call to withdraw from Afghanistan.
“By her own admission, Kamala Harris was a key player in the disastrous withdrawal,” it said in statement.
“She bragged about being the last person in the room for the fateful decision, was ‘front and center’ for the security briefings, and even laughed as a reporter asked her about the American citizens still trapped in Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, Harris released a statement offering prayers for “13 devoted patriots” and the loved ones they left behind. “My heart breaks for their pain and their loss,” she said.
With inputs from AFP
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English (US) ·