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Washington DC – As a Democratic legislator in the United States Scrambling The Biden administration’s opposition to the country’s chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan has been increasingly criticized, and a new strategy is emerging: highlighting the role of former President Donald Trump.
In a congressional hearing on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken emphasized that President Joe Biden inherited the agreement reached between Trump and the Taliban, which stipulates that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by May of this year.
this U.S. withdrawal At the end of August, shortly after the Taliban Controlled It became a crisis for Biden, who faced widespread condemnation from Republicans and media commentators, and Ask him to resign.
Now, the president’s supporters in Congress are stepping up their defense, focusing on the previous government’s policy towards the Taliban.
Although Republicans lashed out at Brinken and the current government at Monday’s hearing, Democratic lawmakers focused their questions and remarks on Trump’s talks with the Taliban.
“We inherited the deadline [for withdrawal]; We have no plan to inherit,” Brinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC). California Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman responded: “So there is no plan at all; Surprisingly, the situation is not much worse. It’s much worse. “
In February 2020, the Trump administration Signed an agreement The Taliban will ensure the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and ensure that “Afghan land will not be used to endanger the security of the United States and its allies.”
The agreement also resulted in the release of 5,000 Taliban detainees as part of the exchange of prisoners with the US-backed Afghan government, which did not participate in the negotiations to reach the agreement.
Biden took office in January and later postponed the withdrawal deadline to the end of August.
After the Taliban entered Kabul last month, the US military still controlling the capital’s airport began an evacuation operation, airlifting American citizens, third-country nationals and Afghan allies out of the country.
The evacuation was destroyed by chaotic scenes and suicide bombings Killed 175 people, Including 13 American soldiers.
“When President Biden took office in January, he inherited an agreement reached between his predecessor and the Taliban to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops by May 1 this year,” Brinken told HFAC on Monday.
“As part of the agreement, the previous government pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including some senior war commanders. At the same time, it reduced our own troops to 2,500.”
Brinken added that Biden has no choice but to complete the withdrawal or escalation of the war, and risk launching an attack on the US military.
Republican anger
But Republicans are angry with the US president, accusing him of abandoning Washington’s allies and making Afghanistan a “safe haven for terrorists.”
Republican Steve Chabot told Brinken on Monday: “The government’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan may be the worst diplomatic disaster in American history.” “You basically handed that country and people to the Taliban’s favors, and the Taliban didn’t.”
Another Republican, Chris Smith, called on Blincol to step down, while his colleague Brian Master accused the government of manipulating intelligence about the prospect of a Taliban takeover after the U.S. withdrawal.
“We don’t need to hear lies,” Florida Representative Master said, because HFAC Democratic Chairman Gregory Meeks reminded Master that his time has expired.
In his own speech, Meeks noted Republicans’ criticism of the withdrawal, but also emphasized the 2020 agreement negotiated by Trump and his then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I asked, when the Trump administration put the Afghan government aside in order to reach an agreement with the Taliban, where did this protest come from?” Meeks asked. “When President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo agreed to withdraw all troops by May 2021, where was this protest?”
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