WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made dubious assertions that the U.S. was well-prepared for the sudden collapse of Afghanistan’s government during the U.S. drawdown and glossed over his broken promise to keep U.S. troops there until the last Americans are out.
In his remarks Tuesday declaring an end to America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, Biden claimed “extraordinary success” in the mission. That defied the reality on the ground of a rushed and chaotic evacuation of Americans and their allies, including deadly violence around the airport.
A look at the claims:
BIDEN, speaking of his decision in April to withdraw U.S. troops by Aug. 31 based on the “assumption” — later proven wrong — that 300,000 Afghan forces would be able to “hold on for a period of time” against the Taliban: “I still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality — even that one. …So, we were ready when the Afghan Security Forces, after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own, did not hold on as long as anyone expected. We were ready when they and the people of Afghanistan watched their own government collapse and their president flee.”
THE FACTS: His claim of U.S. readiness for the sudden collapse of the Afghan government strains the truth.
By all accounts, the evacuation operation that began Aug. 14 was initially chaotic, with too few State Department officials available at the airport to process evacuees. Crowd control inside the airport and outside was problematic, and the U.S. had to execute an airlift in such a rush that large numbers of Afghans swarmed the airfield.
The flow of evacuees from Kabul also was slowed in the airlift’s early days because the U.S. had nowhere to fly the evacuees.
About 2,500 U.S. troops were at the airport at the beginning of the evacuation, and eventually that number would grow to about 5,800. The State Department struggled to determine how many American citizens were in Afghanistan and how many wanted to be evacuated.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that 124,334 Americans, Afghans and other allies from Afghanistan were evacuated in all.
BIDEN: “The bottom line: 90 percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out, if they want to come out.”
THE FACTS: For the record, Biden vowed that he would get 100 percent of Americans out before withdrawing forces.
And his suggestions Tuesday that many of the remaining Americans are dual nationals who may be undecided about leaving do not reflect the full reality.
He contended 100 to 200 Americans are still there and have “some intention to leave,” adding: “Most of those who remain are dual citizens, longtime residents, but earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden is telling those people that if they decide in two weeks that they want to go, “we will get you out.”
Those comments may understate the desperation of Americans trapped in Afghanistan. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said Monday that Americans tried to get to the Kabul airport for the final evacuations but couldn’t. No Americans, apart from military and government personnel, were on the last five jets to leave.
