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President Biden blamed former President Trump for the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan during his address to the nation.
Biden essentially said his hands were tied because he “inherited” a preexisting withdrawal commitment from President Trump with the Taliban. The deal required the U.S. to leave Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
Pres. Biden on “cold reality” of following through with peace agreement the Trump administration brokered with the Taliban to pull troops out of Afghanistan by May 1: “I stand squarely behind my decision.” https://t.co/tfED9wjTL1 pic.twitter.com/8wHzYaybpq
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 17, 2021
Blaming Trump was not new. Biden issued a statement on August 14 just before the complete collapse of Kabul.
When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. Forces.
Critics pointed out the deal arranged by President Trump as essentially void because the Taliban didn’t carry out its commitments of the deal including having negotiations with the Afghan government.
"Biden painted an image that his hands were tied by the agreement reached between the Trump administration and the Taliban, but there are multiple reasons that would've allowed Biden to pull out or alter the agreement," Peter Bergen writes for @CNNOpinion. https://t.co/Q5dg0K3vQP
— CNN (@CNN) August 17, 2021
Biden: 'I Inherited a Deal Cut by My Predecessor'; 'Pathetic Blame-Shifting,' Says Pompeo | CNSNews https://t.co/KPLAuBeLDW
— CNSNews (@cnsnews) August 17, 2021
Read the agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban here.
The blame game continues after Biden’s speech.
Axios reported Biden administration officials complained Trump’s team did not give them an exit plan for diplomats.
“There was no plan to evacuate our diplomats to the airport,” a senior national security official told Axios about the preparations they inherited from the previous administration. “None of this was on the shelf, so to speak.”
Former President Trump blasted Biden.
Donald Trump speaks out on Joe Biden's withdrawal that led to the country falling to the Taliban. pic.twitter.com/l1AWgH9AFb
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 17, 2021
For context, keep in mind Biden has a very long history of being deceptive and not telling the truth spanning decades.
Yes, he did inherit a preexisting agreement but as others have pointed out, Biden could have backed out just like former President Trump did with the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Change accord.
Moreover, the Taliban was not keeping its part of the arrangement.
Biden can’t have it both ways – when he says the buck stops with him he shouldn’t blame others for his incompetence.
It’s this simple, Biden broke the exit strategy from Afghanistan and he owns it.
