US Withdrawal From Afghanistan: Facts You Need To Know

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In 2021, U.S. president Joe Biden decided to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan, ending the 20+ year war that had been going on in the country. After Biden removed the military the Taliban entered the country and the Afghan army largely folded and surrendered. As the Taliban took over, the United States and other countries evacuated thousands of people.

Biden Withdrawal Decision And Fallout

President Joe Biden defended the decision to withdraw, noting, “If we didn’t leave Afghanistan now, when do we leave? Another ten years? Another five years? Another year? I’m not about to send your son and your daughter to fight in Afghanistan.”

Biden said that due to the violence, the deadline of August 31 for U.S. withdrawal may be extended so that evacuations can be completed.

A August 18-20 2021 poll from CBS showed that 63% of Americans supported Biden’s decision to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan but only 47% supported Biden’s handling of the removal.

An Axios report said Biden was unlikely to fire anyone from his national security team over the withdrawal, despite some calling for the removal of national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Taliban Response

The Taliban claimed they would be more tolerant in power than they were 20 years ago, but many were skeptical of the statement.

The Taliban said there would be “consequences” if the withdrawal timeline was extended past August 31.

The Taliban is believed to have gotten access to thousands of assault rifle guns, armored vehicles, dozens of aircraft, tanks, artillery, sniper rifles, and night-vision goggles from the United States after troops withdrew. The Taliban staged a photo-op mocking the US flag raising at Iwo Jima in World War II.

The Taliban reportedly issued a death sentence for an Afghan translator who assisted the U.S. military according to a cache of letters that was unearthed.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) said it wants peaceful negotiations with the Taliban but claims it has thousands of fighters ready to form a resistance against them.

The Taliban said it would not announce the makeup of its government in Afghanistan until the United States completes its troop withdrawal.

US Mission To Evacuate People From Afghanistan

The U.S. government undertook a mission to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the country.

U.S. officials have said they do not know exactly how many Americans are in Afghanistan, but some estimates have said that there were as many as 15,000 Americans in the country.

The Biden administration has evacuated at least 30,000  people out of Afghanistan without any deaths.

A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III plane broke the record for number of people transported in such an aircraft when 823 Afghan citizens were transported from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 15 2021.

The Department of Defense called on private U.S. airlines to exist in evacuating people from Afghanistan, using the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program. It was only the third time in history that the program was activated. The commercial airlines will not fly directly into Kabul, but will ferry evacuees from temporary safe havens and interim staging bases after they leave Afghanistan. The decision to use the fleet was made after an order from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

People who were evacuated from Afghanistan were sent to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where officials from the U.S. State Department worked to coordinate their future travel.

Video: Biden 8/22/2021 speech on Afghanistan evacuation

Biden: “Let me be clear — the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard & painful no matter when it started, when we began. It would have been true if we had started a month ago, or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain.”

One woman delivered her baby on an Air Force C-17 while leaving Afghanistan and landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Seven deaths were reported after a stampeded at Kabul airport.

Refugees In America

President Joe Biden said that after they are “screened and cleared” the Afghans who assisted America over the 20 years of the war will be allowed to resettle in America, “because that is who we are.”

Trump Withdrawal Agreement

Rep. Adam Kinziger (R-IL) said that Trump and Sec. of State Mike Pompeo were “rolled almost as bad as Neville Chamberlain” in their negotiation with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.

Republican Response

Donald Trump described President Joe Biden as a “failed president,” lashing out at the decision to withdraw. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the way the withdrawal was executed was “humiliating” and “disgraceful.” Republicans used footage from the Afghanistan withdrawal in ads for the 2022 midterm elections.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley alleged that the Biden administration “completely surrendered to the Taliban.”

World Reaction

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the decision to pull out of Afghanistan was “imbecilic.”

News Outlets Respond

Fox News Media evacuated three Afghan nationals who have worked with its Afghanistan correspondents over the years as fixers and assistants in its coverage of the region.

Media Coverage

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked Sec. of State Anthony Blinken, “Does the president not know what’s going on?” in Afghanistan in what some described as a nod to right-wing conspiracy theories about Biden having dementia.

Video: Sec. of State Anthony Blinken on Fox News Sunday discussing the withdrawal from Afghanistan:

Conservative Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy was widely criticized after she said First Lady Jill Biden was responsible for the problems in Afghanistan because she allowed Biden, who she described as “mentally frail” to run for president.

Comedian John Oliver said the withdrawal was a “stain on Biden’s legacy.”