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A top US lawmaker says America has “absolutely emboldened” Taliban in Afghanistan, suggesting that President Joe Biden should have reversed a deal clinched in the administration of former President Donald Trump.
“We absolutely emboldened the Taliban,” said Rep. Liz Cheney on NBC News as the Biden administration was coming under unprecedented pressure over the US chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as the Taliban’s return to power in the capital Kabul.
According to Press TV, the US president has been pinning blame on others for the situation in Afghanistan, including Trump over an agreement reached with Taliban under his direction and his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo.
“[W]e sat down and negotiated with terrorists, because we completely excluded the Afghan government from those negotiations, we gave credibility to the Taliban,” she said. “Secretary Pompeo told us that the Taliban was going to renounce al-Qaeda. They told us that the Taliban was going to fight terrorists. They forced the Afghan national government, we did, to release 5,000 prisoners. So we completely undercut the Afghan national government.”
In his defense, Biden has argued that he had to go along with the agreement the United States had reached with Taliban in the previous administration.
“I think there is no question. You know, President Biden is the president of the United States and he’s had no problem in reversing course on other things. He decided he’s going to rejoin the [Iran nuclear deal]. He decided he’s going to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. He’s reversed a number of decisions of the Trump administration,” Cheney said.
The US futile and cruel war comes to an end 20 years after invasion of Afghanistan as the Biden administration grapples with repercussions of the Taliban takeover of most of the country.
“President Biden ignored the advice of his military leadership and decided instead he’s going to withdraw. And all you have to do is look at what is unfolding today,” Cheney added.
The US representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district is among key figures blaming both the Biden and Trump administrations for the fall of the government in Kabul.
With turmoil continuing amid the US withdrawal, the issue of Afghan refugees is potentially turning into a contentious issue between Republicans and Democrats.
