Secretary Blinken Defends Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Amid Criticism

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended the Biden administrations decision to pull out American troops from Afghanistan even as the Taliban government overtakes the country, saying that the U.S. completed its initial goal and is keeping a promise to avoid further war.

Like it or not, there was an agreement that the forces would come out on May 1st. Had they not, had we not begun that process, which is what the president did and the Taliban saw, then we would have been back at war with the Taliban, Blinken said in an interview with CNNs State of the Union.

Blinken was referencing a May deadline that the Trump administration set with the Taliban early last year. If the U.S. did not follow through with that promise, Blinken said there would have been retaliation and American forces having to go back into war with Afghanistan.

Host Jake Tapper expressed concern about the withdrawals speed and planning, however, with him questioning the safety of Americans and Afghan translators who remain in the country. Tapper also questioned the Biden administration announcing in April that it would remove 2,500 to 3,000 troops by Aug. 31 and its decision to now send roughly 5,000 more troops to help with the withdrawal.

Secretary of State Blinken on Afghanistan: \"That status quo was not sustainable. Like it or not, there was an agreement that forces would come out on May 1. Had we not begun that process... then we would have been back at war with the Taliban... with tens of thousands of troops\" pic.twitter.com/HZx8vwTYhA

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Aaron Rupar","author_url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar","cache_age":86400,"description":"Secretary of State Blinken on Afghanistan: \"That status quo was not sustainable. Like it or not, there was an agreement that forces would come out on May 1. Had we not begun that process... then we would have been back at war with the Taliban... with tens of thousands of troops\" pic.twitter.com/HZx8vwTYhA Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1426894741929607168/pu/img/Mwd463-W7hXl7Q81.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"Aaron Rupar on 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Secretary of State Blinken on Afghanistan: "That status quo was not sustainable. Like it or not, there was an agreement that forces would come out on May 1. Had we not begun that process... then we would have been back at war with the Taliban... with tens of thousands of troops" pic.twitter.com/HZx8vwTYhA
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2021

Does that not on its face show that the exit was ineptly planned? Tapper asked.

What weve done, what the president has done, is make sure that we were able to adjust to anything happening on the ground, Blinken said of the extra troops being added. He further argued that the U.S. is safer than it was before the 2001 terror attacks that led to the Talibans removal from power in Afghanistan by U.S.-led forces. The original goal of removing 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was also completed.

We have tremendously more capacity than we had before 9/11 when it comes to counterterrorism, he said, adding that he believes terror organizations wont try anything again because of how the U.S. reacted to the 2001 attacks.

Experts, meanwhile, have warned that the militant group is stronger now than at any point in the past 20 years.