Biden ‘doesn’t believe ANYONE made mistakes’ during catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal: President privately thinks history will ‘look kindly’ on evacuation that left 13 soldiers dead and no one offered to resign, new book claims
- A new book says Biden stubbornly insists the exit from Afghanistan was as good as he could have done
- Biden left hundreds of American citizens behind in Afghanistan following his chaotic troop withdrawal
- The chaos at Kabul airport ultimately led to the horrific suicide bombing at the airport, which killed thirteen American service members.
President Joe Biden remains defiant that his decision to end the war in Afghanistan was the right one, despite the loss of 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing near Kabul airport.
Biden publicly defended the operation to leave Afghanistan despite the messy withdrawal, but a new book by Politico reporter Alexander Ward shows the president “didn’t believe anyone made a mistake.”
Ending the war was always going to be messy,” Ward wrote, revealing some behind-the-scenes details of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in his book “The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.” Details of the book were first reported in Axios.
Despite the Pentagon’s efforts to maintain a certain number of troops to facilitate an orderly withdrawal, Biden and the State Department focused on getting out as quickly as possible.
Afghans gather on the side of the road near the military part of the airport in Kabul, hoping to flee the country after the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan.
Evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport
At the same time, Biden promised that he would remain in Afghanistan until every American citizen who wanted to leave could leave.
“If there are any American citizens left, we’re going to stay and get them all out,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos.
“There’s no one here who thinks we can keep that promise,” a senior White House official told Ward at the time.
The government’s hasty departure led to widespread chaos, with Afghan refugees falling from cargo planes leaving the country and women handing their babies over the airport fence to US troops.
The chaos at the airport ultimately led to the horrific suicide bombing at the airport, which killed thirteen American service members.
Ultimately, more than 800 American citizens remained in Afghanistan, as well as tens of thousands of Afghans who supported American forces.
Biden never publicly repented of the messy exit from Afghanistan and defended himself in remarks at the White House on August 18.
“The bottom line is that after the end of a war, there is no evacuation without the complexities, challenges and threats we have faced. None,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden(R) attends the dignified transfer of the remains of a fallen service member at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, August 29, 2021
President Joe Biden checks his watch caught in TV photos Biden apparently looks disrespectfully at his watch during the dignified handover procedure honoring the 13 US service members killed in Kabul by a suicide bomber
Ward wrote that Biden believed his team had done their best and did not expect anyone in his administration to resign.
“Biden told his top aides, (including National Security Advisor Jake) Sullivan, that he had their backs and that they had done their best during a difficult situation,” he wrote.
The president was further criticized for looking at his watch during the dignified handover ceremony for the thirteen American service members who died as a result of his decision.
The president’s approval ratings faded after the chaotic departure and never recovered.