Pence says Trump administration would have kept U.S. troops in Afghanistan despite withdrawal deal with Taliban
CBSJul 04, 2023
Taliban Marks 2 Years Since Return to Power in Afghanistan
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Image copyright: VOA [via Wikimedia Commons]
The Facts
The Taliban declared a national holiday this week to mark the two-year anniversary of the Fall of Kabul, when the Taliban swept into the city, ending the US military's 20-year-long occupation of Afghanistan.
To celebrate the anniversary on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated: "we would like to congratulate the mujahid [holy warrior] nation of Afghanistan and ask them to thank Almighty Allah for this great victory."
The Spin
Republican narrative
Evidence continues to mount suggesting the Biden admin.'s rushed and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan directly led to the fall of Kabul and the Taliban returning to power. There's no excuse for the unjust suffering the Afghan people have since endured, all because the Democratic president wanted to score some cheap political points. While it was Trump who signed the Doha Agreement, it was ultimately Biden who executed a botched withdrawal, condemning the country to chaos.
Democratic narrative
America's disastrous invasion and occupation of Afghanistan under George W. Bush, not Biden's withdrawal, are to blame for the fall of Kabul and the current security crisis. The fact that Afghan security forces collapsed immediately after US forces left indicates that the security situation was simply unsustainable, and that the collapse was essentially inevitable. There are, of course, valid criticisms of the withdrawal, but most have been unnecessary partisan attacks against Biden.
