Sec. Blinken: ‘Pres. Biden Faced a Choice Between Ending the War or Escalating It’ Because of Trump

EXCERPT:

BLINKEN: "When President Biden took office in January, he inherited an agreement that his predecessor had reached with the Taliban to remove all remaining forces from Afghanistan by May 1st of this year. As part of that agreement, the previous administration pressed the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including some top war commanders. Meanwhile, it reduced our own troop presence to 2,500 troops. In return, the Taliban agreed to stop attacking U.S. and partner forces and to refrain from threatening Afghanistan‘s major cities. But the Taliban continued a relentless march on remote outposts, on checkpoints, on villages, on districts, as well as the major roads connecting them. By January 2021, the Taliban was in the strongest military position it had been in since 9/11 and we had the smallest number of troops on the ground since 2001. As a result, upon taking office, President Biden immediately faced a choice between ending the war or escalating it. Had he not followed through on his predecessor's commitment, attacks on our forces and those of our allies would have resumed and the Taliban‘s assault on Afghanistan's major cities would have commenced.”