President Joe Biden returned from Camp David to address the toppling of the government in Kabul by the Taliban over the weekend. Grueling images showed Afghanistan collapsing after experts warned Biden not to withdraw the military after a 20-year military presence. Biden will address the nation at 3:45 p.m. EST from the East Room.
There are an estimated 30,000 people at-risk individuals from Kabul.
According to former President Donald Trump, his administration left Biden with contingency plans. Biden abandoned Trump’s peace agenda and declined a conditions-based withdrawal.
“Afghanistan is the most embarrassing military outcome in the history of the United States,” said Trump in a statement on Monday. “It didn’t have to be that way!”
Look for Biden to rebuke the Afghan security forces for providing little resistance and determining they would not fight for Kabul and they would not fight for the country. Biden told the American people that the Taliban would not take over Afghanistan after he ordered the removal of US troops.
“Our military presence in Afghanistan should not have continued indefinitely, but the withdrawal of U.S. troops should have been carefully planned to prevent violence and instability, and to ensure that the hard-fought progress gained over the past two decades — particularly when it comes to Afghan women and girls — would not be lost,” said Senator Tom Carper of Delaware.
Quick facts:
At least seven people have been killed at Kabul International Airport as Afghani and foreign citizens attempt to leave the country, US officials say
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani relinquished power to an interim government led by Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
EU governments to meet on Tuesday
UK parliament to be recalled on Wednesday
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta shared that the debacle in Afghanistan was a “Bay of Pigs” moment for Biden. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed attack during the Kennedy administration to remove Cuban leader Fidel Castro from power.
“In many ways, I think of John Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs, you know?” Panetta told Fox News. “It unfolded quickly and the president thought that everything would be fine and that was not the case. But President Kennedy took responsibility for what took place. I strongly recommend to President Biden that he take responsibility and admit the mistakes that were made.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the decision to withdraw.
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-CNJ Staff