US State Dept Reaffirms Decision to Withdraw from Afghanistan
The US Department of State, in response to a report by the House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan, stated that although ending America’s longest war was not easy, it was a necessary action.
Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department, defended President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan during a press briefing.
The Deputy Spokesperson told reporters: “when President Biden took office, he was faced with a choice: ramp up the war in Afghanistan and put more American troops at risk or finally end our involvement in America’s longest war after two decades of American president sending troops to fight and die in Afghanistan. we are stronger today because of this decision that President Biden made. The one that he made was the right one.”
Meanwhile, John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesman, described the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report as one-sided and said that it has nothing new to offer.
Kirby said: “We’ve already issued comments about the one-sided, partisan nature of this report, so I’m not going to belabor that right now, but I do think a brief rundown of actual facts is important. First, on the very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years, and the Afghan government the weakest. The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete US withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Idris Mohammadi Zazi, a political analyst, said: “The positive aspect was that Afghanistan became free and independent, and a central government was handed over to the Islamic Emirate.”
Earlier, CBS News reported that Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have accused the Biden administration of misleading public opinion regarding the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The report also accused Zalmay Khalilzad of weakening the previous Afghan government by sidelining it from negotiations.