Ben Cardin says Biden ‘had very bad options’ during Afghanistan withdrawal
Ryan King
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Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) defended the Biden administration following renewed scrutiny over the United States’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A 12-page unclassified summary of the after-action report about the withdrawal released last week pinned much of the blame on the Trump administration and reignited debate over who bore the most responsibility for the Taliban takeover. Cardin argued that President Joe Biden‘s hands were largely tied up.
WHITE HOUSE HIT OVER DENYING ‘CHAOS’ IN AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL
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“It was a real challenge,” Cardin told Fox News Sunday. “Make no mistake about it: the Biden administration had very bad options. The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was made by the Trump administration. The reduction of troops to 2,500 [is] where President Biden started his term in office.”
Former President Donald Trump set in motion the withdrawal from the war-torn nation, but Biden carried it through. Republican detractors countered that Biden may have been able to reverse course or should have executed better planning.
Despite two decades of American involvement in Afghanistan, the U.S.-backed government quickly collapsed and fell to the Taliban as the United States took out its forces. Prior to the Taliban resurgence, Biden was resolute that the civilian government would stand.
“Admittedly, the intelligence information about the strength of the Afghan government to stand off against the Taliban was not accurate. The Taliban took over much quicker than anyone had anticipated,” Cardin added.
At one point last week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stirred controversy by asserting that the withdrawal did not appear chaotic from his standpoint.
“For all this talk of chaos, I just didn’t see it, not from my perch,” he said.
Kirby’s remarks drew backlash from Republicans. Some 13 American troops died during the withdrawal, and numerous Afghan allies were left behind.
Trump negotiated with the Taliban, but did not include the Afghan government in the bulk of those talks, heeding a condition of the fundamentalist group. Both Trump and Biden were skeptical of continued U.S. presence in the terror-plagued nation.
“I hope we can learn from this experience,” Cardin continued. “Quite frankly, I think the major mistake was made in negotiating directly with the Taliban, not involving the Afghanistan government, unilaterally withdrawing our troops to a level that did not give us the ability to be able to protect U.S. interests moving forward.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) has been leading an investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He recently subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a dissent cable.
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Cardin also opined that the Middle East is once again becoming a powder keg amid a military flare-up between Israel and Lebanon.
“I am very worried. During the holiday season, it’s always a high-tension moment in the Middle East, in Israel,” he said. “We recognize that Israel still has mortal enemies that are there. The circumstances with Iran’s activities in the surrounding countries, the attacks coming from both Syria and Lebanon into Israel, these are all major concerns.”