American media: Washington withdrew its troops from Afghanistan to protect its image

According to RCO News Agency, in a note published in an American media, it is stated that the chaos of the issue of the withdrawal of American soldiers from Afghanistan has been given a political aspect, but the Republicans and Democrats have been blaming each other for decades.

In this note, which was published in the Diplomat analytical News site, it is stated: “Michael McCall, the chairman of the foreign relations committee of the US House of Representatives, on September 9 (11 September), this committee’s investigative report on the hasty and disorderly withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the Biden administration Published during the summer of 2021. In this report published under the title “Self-inflicted Blindness”, the Republicans of the House of Representatives blamed the disorderly withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan and the subsequent instability of the US in this country for more than three years on the shoulders of the Biden administration.

In this 200-page report, it is explained that the withdrawal of the American military included a long-term and gradual evacuation of the military, which began with Biden’s order to “zero” on April 21, 2021, and led to the civilian evacuation operation on August 15, 2021. However, this departure was followed by the “Abbey Gate” terrorist operation on August 26, 2021, in which 13 American soldiers were killed and 45 others were injured. This operation left 170 dead and countless wounded among Afghan civilians.

Republicans and Democrats blame game

The US withdrawal officially ended on August 30, 2021, with the departure of the last military aircraft from Afghanistan and the handing over of the country to the Taliban, who were ousted two decades ago during the US attack on Afghanistan.

This article continues: Republicans in the US House of Representatives blame the Biden administration for not prioritizing the security of American soldiers and citizens, as well as “green card” holders and Afghan allies. This report also accuses that despite the opportunity and information that existed, the government did not take the necessary measures to prevent the fall of the government in Afghanistan. Therefore, America was forced to make an uncalculated exit, without the necessary number of soldiers, equipment and facilities, which damaged America’s credibility and made its enemies more daring.

The report of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives blames the Biden administration for the hasty and disorderly withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. However, it does not mention that it was Donald Trump’s administration that signed the “Doha Agreement” with the Taliban without the knowledge of the Afghan government.

This report also points out that the Trump administration kept 2,500 American troops in Afghanistan due to the failure of the Taliban to fulfill its commitments under this agreement, which was the lowest level of American military presence in the country since the start of the “war on terrorism” in 2001. At the same time, this report does not mention that it was the Doha agreement that accelerated the fall of Kabul. In fact, the Biden administration delayed the full withdrawal of troops for three months; In the Doha agreement, it was committed to complete and final withdrawal by May 2021.

This note adds: Regardless of this blame game, it is interesting to mention the time of publication of this report, which was done two months before the US presidential election. Although McCall said that the report was not political for him and that he would have preferred it to be published sooner, the fact that the said report keeps referring to the “Biden-Harris administration” implicitly implies that the report of the US president and “Kamala Hers has targeted his deputy, who is the candidate of the Democratic Party in the US presidential elections. While praising Trump, who has once again been nominated by the Democratic Party for the US elections, this report does not mention Mike Pence, his first vice president during that period.

Meanwhile, this report scrutinizes Biden’s statement during the period when he was the first vice president of the former US President Barack Obama, in particular, one of his statements about women’s rights in Afghanistan, which he ignored.

In this report, Richard Holdbrooke, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the time, quoted Biden and said, “This is not what the American soldiers are there for”. It doesn’t matter that the protection of women’s rights is not mentioned in the Doha agreement with the Taliban, despite the history of this group in violating human rights during its rule in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. In general, this report, contrary to the facts and evidence it points to, ignores the mistakes of the Trump administration, especially regarding the Doha agreement.

Leaving Afghanistan, “self-inflicted blindness?”

In the following, this note is presented: The title of this report, “self-inflicted blindness”, implies that the Biden administration deliberately and without considering the chaos that could be caused as a result of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, decided to withdraw the United States. took However, the report does not mention the “self-inflicted blindness” of previous US administrations in relation to Afghanistan, especially the Trump administration.

In another part of the note of the Diplomat news base, it is stated: In the book “Taliban: The Story of Afghan Warlords” written by “Ahmed Rashid”, the United States, which was committed to fighting the Afghans against the Jamahir Shuri Union, will continue to They stand, after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union left them. Washington did nothing to help the starving people of Afghanistan or to bring peace there. This created a vacuum that regional powers could fill. As a result of Washington’s withdrawal, Afghans began to feel bad for the United States they had fought against. This situation is similar to the withdrawal of the United States in 2021.

Rashid mentioned in this book in 2001 that America has not learned from its previous experience. Due to Washington’s self-interested policies, Afghanistan fell into disorder and chaos for five decades. This history clearly shows that decades of “self-inflicted blindness” in US policy towards Afghanistan is not unique to the Biden administration.

In the final part of this article, it is mentioned: despite the criticism of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, this action by Washington was more a form of honor preservation; After decades of fighting in Afghanistan, the dominance of the Taliban, the enemy America was fighting, was increasing. Therefore, Washington’s only option was to withdraw from Afghanistan to protect itself.

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