Afghanistan withdrawal was 'complete failure' of US leadership: Pompeo

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Jul 2023 20:32
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The former Secretary of State said that the recent analysis published by State Department on the matter serves as a cover-up for President Joe Biden's administration.

In this image provided by the US Army, paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, and others, prepare to board a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021 (Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett/US Army via AP)

The decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan was called a "complete failure of [US] leadership" by Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday.

According to him, the recent analysis published by the State Department on the matter serves as a cover-up for President Joe Biden's administration.

"The Biden Admin's Afghanistan report is a cover-up. They try to pass the blame but don't explain why they abandoned our conditions-based approach ... A complete failure of leadership," Pompeo tweeted on Monday.

The Biden Admin's Afghanistan report is a cover-up. They try to pass the blame but don't explain why they abandoned our conditions-based approach. Or why they left Bagram Air Base before evacuating civilians. Or why they arbitrarily selected 9/11 as a final deadline. (1/2)
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 3, 2023

The report that Pompeo is referring to is one that was released on June 30. It is an analysis of US actions from January 2020 to August 2021 and involves an acknowledgment of the shortcomings and miscalculated decisions carried out by former President Donald Trump and Joe Biden in orchestrating the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

"The catastrophic handling of Afghanistan encouraged [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to invade Ukraine. Weakness is provocative, and we'll be paying for these mistakes for years," Pompeo added.

According to the report, the Trump and Biden administrations failed to consider "worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow" and the sudden withdrawal of troops deprived envoys of the necessary assistance.

It further said that the government failed to take into consideration that negotiations with the Taliban would enable a small contingent of troops to provide the security the US embassy needs.

It also said that the decision to turn Bagram Air Base over to the Afghan authorities left US forces to rely solely on Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport to evacuate people.

"Critically, the decision to hand over Bagram Air Base to the Afghan government meant that Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) would be the only avenue for a possible noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO)," the document read.

On June 30, Biden rebuked criticism of his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, arguing that the Taliban was acting upon a promise it made that it would not allow terrorist organizations into the country.

Afghanistan was seized by the Taliban in August 2021 after a hasty US withdrawal.

Since then, the Afghan people have been confronting worsening economic, humanitarian, and security crises.