President Joe Biden maintained on Friday that he did not commit any mistakes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite the loss of 13 American service members and numerous injuries following the State Department’s publication of an “after-action review” detailing the flawed execution of the exit.
Shortly after delivering live remarks on the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating his $430 billion student loan forgiveness plan, Biden was asked about the findings, by a journalist as he was leaving the room.
“Mr. President, do you admit failure in Afghanistan? Mistakes? There was a — there was a report on Afghanistan withdrawal, saying there was failure, mistakes. Do you admit there was mistakes during the withdrawal and before?” the reporter asked, according to Breitbart News.
Biden turned around and saod, “No, no. All the evidence is coming back. Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”
This wasn’t the first occasion on which Biden expressed no regrets regarding the withdrawal, which resulted in a chaotic evacuation of U.S. officials, contractors, and citizens as the Taliban swiftly captured Kabul and overthrew the U.S.-supported government.
The report, primarily examining the State Department’s actions, held both the Trump and Biden administrations responsible for their failure to adequately prepare for worst-case scenarios.
Breitbart noted further:
The State Department’s report was released on the Friday before the Fourth of July weekend, prompting journalists to question at the White House briefing if that was done to bury the report’s findings.
To date, no one has been fired for the withdrawal, causing the deaths of 13 U.S. troops and approximately 170 Afghans after an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria suicide bomber targeted a gate at the airport where the chaotic evacuation was staged.
According to testimony provided to Congress by Marine Staff Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, he and fellow service members had identified the suicide bomber, but they were not authorized to take action, as reported by Breitbart News.
