"Bitter disaster"
,
"betrayal"
,
"unconditional surrender"
to the Taliban: strongly criticized by elected Republican officials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempted Monday, September 13 to defend the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan implemented by Joe Biden in front of a very uplifted Congress.
To discover
EXCLUSIVE - With the new masters of Kabul, our report at the heart of the Taliban power
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With more firmness than he had done so far, the very affable diplomat challenged the accusations of unpreparedness formulated even within his Democratic camp. And counterattacked by making ex-President Donald Trump largely responsible for the situation.
"We inherited a deadline, we did not inherit a plan,"
he said during a hearing in the House of Representatives. He felt that when President Biden entered the White House in early 2021, he had no choice but to
"end the war or escalate."
"The Taliban were stronger militarily than ever"
since the attacks of September 11, 2001, which triggered Western intervention, while the American army had never had so few soldiers on Afghan soil.
“There is no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces more resilient or self-sufficient.
"
Antony Blinken
In question, the agreement reached by the Trump administration with the Taliban, setting in stone the total withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan - and allowing the passage of the release of 5,000 insurgents,
"including important commanders"
.
Decided for a long time to end the longest war in American history, the Democratic president confirmed in the spring this total withdrawal initiated by his Republican predecessor.
But without this agreement, he would
not
have
"not necessarily done according to this schedule"
or
"in this way"
, hammered Antony Blinken.
Read also Afghanistan: why the Taliban won
If the disengagement from Afghanistan was defended by a large part of the American political class, its implementation is criticized from all sides.
Because the departure turned into a disaster scenario: the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban, driven out 20 years ago, regained power even before the last American soldier left Kabul.
In haste, the United States had to mount a gigantic airlift to evacuate foreigners and Afghans at risk of reprisal from the country's new Islamist masters.
And 13 American soldiers were killed in a jihadist attack targeting this operation.
124,000 people evacuated in 16 days
"The president refused to listen to his own generals and intelligence officials, who had warned him precisely of what would happen during our withdrawal,"
attacked the elected Republican Michael McCaul, denouncing a
"bitter disaster"
.
"I did not expect to witness, in my lifetime, an unconditional surrender to the Taliban,"
he continued.
He accused the Biden-Blinken duo of
"betrayal"
for having "broken the promise" not to leave any American behind.
In turn, elected Republicans have redoubled their criticism, some, like Joe Wilson, going so far as to demand the resignation of the Secretary of State.
Read also Joe Biden pleads the inevitability of chaos in Kabul
“I want to thank the member for his support for the men and women in the State Department. I appreciate that part of his statement, ”
said Antony Blinken in response. Basically, without ever departing from his usual calm or politeness, the head of American diplomacy assured that Washington had never ceased to
“assess”
the capacity of the Afghan government to
“remain in power”
.
“Even the most pessimistic analyzes did not foresee the collapse of government forces in Kabul before the withdrawal of American forces
,” he pleaded. But
"there is no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces more resilient or self-sufficient."
"However, he insisted, we prepared for a large number of scenarios"
, which he said allowed to evacuate 124,000 people in 16 days. This is precisely the weak point of Antony Blinken, accused of not having done enough, in the months before the deadline of August 31, to evacuate American nationals and Afghans who worked for the United States. Here too, the minister said he had relaunched the allocation of special visas to interpreters and other Afghan auxiliaries in Washington, left
"at a standstill"
by the Trump administration. But this very bureaucratic process remained extremely sluggish until the final bailout.