US President Biden seemed a little bit shocked during his latest press conference as he was asked a question about whether he trusts the Taliban. “No”, he responded with clarity, of course he didn’t trust the Taliban. He trusts the capacity of the Afghan military who is “better trained, better equipped and more competent in terms of conducting war”, Biden said. While President Biden trusts the Afghan army to stop the advance of the Taliban, the situation on the field is alarming.
Already during the Obama presidency the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan became one of the top issues of US foreign policy. In 2009 former President Barack Obama ordered an increase of US troops in the country. But only two years later in 2011 he reverted this course and ordered the withdrawal of a large portion of US soldiers from Afghanistan, asserting that the country that functioned as a base for the 9/11 attack didn’t represent a terror threat towards the US anymore.
After this point, year for year a possible full withdrawal from Afghanistan was being discussed. While some feared a takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban as a result of the withdrawal, others argued that a withdrawal is in order with all US goals in Afghanistan achieved. The next US President Donald Trump as well ensured the American people that he would pull out all US troops from Afghanistan. After all his administration regularly pointed out that it would end the era of “endless wars”, including the war In Afghanistan. Together with the Afghan government and the NATO he inked a deal with the Taliban, securing the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from the country.
Following the end of his term, the new administration under Joe Biden reviewed this deal, but didn’t change it. Now that the Biden administration wanted to concentrate its focus and resources on bigger threats such as Russia or more importantly China, the withdrawal from Afghanistan continued.
Until August 31 – meaning prior to the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center – all US and NATO troops will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan. During his announcement regarding his decision on April 14, US President Biden highlighted that he would not pass the responsibility to preside over the Afghanistan war to a fifth president, adding that he had concluded that it is time to end “America’s longest war”. Following this final – and certainly controversial – decision, the US deployed multiple B-52 bombers and one aircraft carrier to the Middle East. This was to ensure a peaceful and secure withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced.
The decision to withdraw all troops was viewed as a triumph of the Taliban by many. Some US officials didn’t seem to be too sure whether it was the right call either. Speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity, they described the decision of President Biden as a “gut decision”. Based on intelligence reports from the region, these US officials predicted that the Taliban would gain the upper hand over the government in Kabul within 6 to 12 months after the withdrawal of foreign troops.
But the concerns of US officials and the fast paced advance of the Taliban shouldn’t persuade the White House to overthink the withdrawal decision, but on the contrary even further cement it. As a matter of fact, the US sees no hope for Afghanistan anymore, at least not from a military point of view. According to US officials, the reason for this hopelessness is the current overall situation of the Afghan government. After almost two decades of US training, equipping and financing, the government in Kabul is still at the brink of complete collapse and not able to withstand the Taliban which is at its strongest level militarily since 2001, as mentioned by President Biden.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby noted that they were aware of concerns regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan. “We have spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of resources in improving the competency and the capability of the Afghan National Security Forces and now it’s their turn”, Kirby said, calling upon the Afghan army to step up to defend their country.
Further remarks regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal came from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, her main message being that there was simply no benefit for the US to continue the war in Afghanistan militarily. While admitting that the 20 year long war in Afghanistan could not be won militarily, she stressed that the US achieved its goals in the country. “We did exactly what we intended to do, and certainly that is something”, Psaki pointed out, adding that there would have been severe consequences if the withdrawal decision hadn’t been made.
Recently US President Biden offered remarks regarding the latest situation as well, defending his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Biden also said the US achieved its objectives, explaining that these were “to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and to deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued against the United States”. He had judged that it is not in the national interest of the US to continue to fight the war in Afghanistan “indefinitely”. The president also saw his press conference as an opportunity to respond to criticism about his decision.
In response to those who argue that the US should continue to stay in Afghanistan, Biden asked “How many thousands more of America’s daughters and sons are you willing to risk”, clarifying his stance and reaffirming his decision by saying that he would not send another generation of Americans to Afghanistan “with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome”.
Throughout his press conference he emphasized the strong support provided by the US to the Afghan military in shape of advanced weaponry, training and financing. This was also subject of his response to a reporter at whom he lashed out for asking him whether he trusts the Taliban. Describing the question as a “silly” one, Biden responded with a clear “No”, saying he doesn’t trust the Taliban, but trusts “the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more competent in terms of conducting war”.
Biden gave a similar answer to another question, namely whether a takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is inevitable. Once again the president repeated his trust in Afghan security forces, citing their military improvement thanks to US support. Therefore a takeover of the entire country by the Taliban was not inevitable, Biden stated.
While high ranking US officials and President Biden seem to be confident that the Taliban can be stopped, news from the field shows the contrary. The Taliban steadily advances on multiple fronts in the country and controls around 85 percent of Afghanistan according to its own statements. The last town that fell to Taliban fighters under this advance is Torghundi, a city at the border with Turkmenistan that functions as one of the two border crossings between the countries.
Prior to the capture of Torghundi, Taliban fighters had advanced and seized the Islam-Qalaa border crossing with Iran as well. Local sources speak of complete Taliban control in wide areas of the border with Iran and Turkmenistan.
Footage from both regions show Taliban fighters posing with their weapons and seizing armoured vehicles among other equipment belonging to the Afghan army. There was no sign of Afghan soldiers that are helplessly confronted with a sweeping Taliban. Thousands of Afghani soldiers fled to neighbouring Tajikistan as the Taliban advanced at that front as well. Dozens sought refuge at an Iranian customs point at the Islam-Qalaa crossing during the Taliban takeover.
Others joined the Taliban and handed over weapons as well as ammunition. The spokesman of the Taliban shared footage of Afghani soldiers joining the ranks of the Taliban on Twitter, labelling them as “brothers”. However, the first contact between Afghani soldiers and the Taliban doesn’t always end peaceful.
Horrifying footage from the Dawlat Abad region of the Faryab province showed 22 Afghani Special Forces soldiers being executed by the Taliban. Despite surrendering, the soldiers were brutally shot by Taliban fighters. The Taliban described the footage as “fake” and “government propaganda” to prevent soldiers from surrendering.
While the withdrawal from Afghanistan is nearly complete, the fast paced and seemingly unstoppable advance of the Taliban confronts the international community with several unanswered questions. How to continue following the withdrawal? What is the roadmap? Was a withdrawal even the right call? Should Afghanistan be completely given up and left to its fate? How to guarantee the security of the international airport and the capital Kabul?
These unanswered questions currently remain at the core of discussions regarding Afghanistan and every new day, every new conquest of the Taliban creates more of them. Following almost two decades of military intervention in Afghanistan, calm still hasn’t been achieved. Is it possible after the controversial withdrawal with many unanswered questions? Hardly.