The collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces dates back to a 2020 deal between the Taliban and the Trump administration that promised a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops, senior Pentagon officials told Congress. According to some media analysts, such as Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News, the withdrawal was included among other actions in which Biden broke with Obama and Trump, and was seen as a continuation of the promise Biden had made before his presidential nomination that his term would not be „a third Obama term“ because „President Trump has changed the landscape.“ Princeton professor Julian E. Zelizer said Biden had „clearly learned a lot from his time as President Obama.“ Washington Post reporter Steven Levingston wrote: „Obama listened to the military leaders who told him that a retirement would be a mistake. Biden, meanwhile, was the most senior administration official to advocate a much more limited role for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Later, Biden said he could tell from Obama`s „body language“ that he agreed with that assessment — even though he ultimately rejected it. Harvard historian James Kloppenberg explained: „Only a fool would have been sure he knew all the answers [when it came to Afghanistan]. Obama was not a fool. [161] Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday strongly defended the Biden administration`s withdrawal from Afghanistan, insisting that it was „time to end america`s longest war“ and praising the evacuation of Kabul as „extraordinary.“ Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump in November 2020, said he thought at the time of signing the deal that it should have been „conditional,“ which is part of why he later rejected Trump`s call for a Christmas return for U.S.
troops. The hope is that some kind of lasting peace can be achieved. The fear is that the hardest work lies ahead and that the announcement of the US withdrawal will encourage the Taliban to challenge a bitterly divided government in Kabul. April 15 – In response to Biden`s decision to postpone the full withdrawal until September 11, the Taliban issue a statement saying that the withdrawal until September 1. May „paves the way for [the Taliban] to take all necessary countermeasures, which is why the US side is held responsible for all future consequences.“ „The signing of the Doha agreement had a really damaging effect on the Afghan government and its military – psychologically more than anything else, but we set a safe date – when we would leave and when they could expect all the aid to end,“ McKenzie said. February 3 – The Afghanistan Task Force, established by Congress in December 2019 to make policy recommendations for a peaceful transition in Afghanistan, releases a report recommending changes to the agreement with the Taliban. „The most important revision is to ensure that a full withdrawal of US troops is not based on an inflexible timetable, but on respect for all parties, including the Taliban, who keep their promises to contain terrorist groups and reduce violence against the Afghan people, and to compromise to reach a political solution,“ he said. The withdrawal of U.S.
troops – some 12,000 are still in Afghanistan – depends on the Taliban meeting important commitments that have been obstacles for years, including severing ties with international terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. Defense officials had already addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, where Gen. Milley and Gen. McKenzie recommended maintaining a force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan ahead of the U.S. full withdrawal in August. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban captured the capital Kabul when the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani dissolved, which surprised the U.S. government. [123] As Taliban fighters surrounded the city, the U.S. Embassy evacuated and withdrew to Hamid Karzai International Airport, where fleeing Afghan forces had ceded control to NATO. On April 17, 2021, the diplomat reported on the internal and external challenges for Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops from the perspective of Afghan civil society. [162] September 3, 2020 – Afghanistan releases the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners, as required by the U.S.-Taliban agreement, paving the way for the start of intra-Afghan peace talks. About 650 U.S.
troops remained on the ground in Afghanistan in early August 2021, sticking to a schedule set months earlier. Their task was to protect the airport and the embassy. [14] [15] However, when the Taliban captured 18 of the 34 provincial capitals, including Herat and Kandahar, on August 12 – within days – the UNITED States and Britain said they would send more troops to evacuate embassy staff, other U.S. and British nationals, and their local translators. .