White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby answered journalists’ questions at an online press conference.
Noting that a report examining the US withdrawal process from Afghanistan will be forwarded to the Congress today by the Ministry of Defense (Pentagon), Kirby said that the relevant institutions of the state have carried out comprehensive investigations on the roles and decisions of the relevant institutions in the withdrawal processes from Afghanistan for months.
Kirby shared his views in the report on the White House withdrawal process and “lessons learned” from this experience.
“The President’s (Joe Biden) decision to end the war in Afghanistan was correct.” Kirby, who said, defended the view that the USA had accomplished its mission to reduce the terrorist threat that caused the invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, a long time ago.
“While the President’s intention has always been to end this war, it cannot be denied that the previous administration’s decisions and lack of planning have significantly limited the options available to him,” Kirby said. He accused Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, of not being prepared during this process.
TRUMP’IN AFGANISTAN MİRASI
When Biden took office, Kirby said that the US military presence in Afghanistan was at its lowest level since 2001. He pointed out that he took over the agreement, which stipulates his withdrawal from the country by May 2021.
Kirby said that Biden asked about his plans to withdraw from the former administration but could not get the necessary answer, adding that the first lesson they learned in this context was the “importance of transition processes”.
Noting that despite the previous administration’s lack of planning, Biden is trying to carry out a meticulous, comprehensive and planned process that responds to the realities on the ground, Kirby said that the evacuation plan started in the spring of 2021 and that he ordered the deployment of additional military forces to Afghanistan if needed.
Kirby noted that Biden ordered his team to be ready for the “worst case scenario”, on the other hand, drawing attention to the inadequacy of intelligence agencies.
INSUFFICIENCY OF INSTITUTIONS
Saying that no institution predicted that the Taliban would seize Kabul and that then President Ashraf Ghani would flee quickly and Afghan soldiers trained by the US would fail, Kirby said that the importance of low-probability and high-risk scenarios is the second lesson learned in this context.
Kirby, implying that Trump’s Afghanistan policy is responsible for what happened, said:
“(Biden) did not negotiate with the Taliban. He did not invite the Taliban to Camp David. He did not release 5,000 prisoners. He did not reduce the force level in Afghanistan to 2,500. Nor did he have an agreement with the Taliban not to attack our soldiers. (Biden) He came with certain conditions. He didn’t have the ability to change them.”
At the meeting, where tensions rose with journalists from time to time, Kirby said that although everything was not perfect, the Biden administration and the personnel working in Afghanistan had accomplished many things and therefore he was proud.
Kirby also evaluated that since the United States did not wage a land war in Afghanistan, it was on a stronger strategic basis in support of Ukraine and in competition with China.
STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOME
The White House has published a summary of the report submitted to the Congress by the relevant institutions, examining the important decisions taken and the difficulties encountered during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The document states that the United States and its NATO allies spent hundreds of billions of dollars to train and equip the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and support the Afghan governments.
“In the beginning, America’s goal was never to build a nation. But over time, America began to do this. Twenty years after the start of the war, America was mired in a war with uncertain goals and seemingly endless ends in Afghanistan, and was underinvested in the national security challenges of today and tomorrow.”
