A little more than a month ago, President Joe Biden said he had faith the Afghan military could hold the Taliban at bay and that the fall of the country wasn’t inevitable. A little over a week ago, U.S. intelligence estimated that the Afghan capital of Kabul could hold out for three months.
On Saturday, Biden announced he was sending in 5,000 U.S. troops to evacuate American personnel and soldiers as well as Afghans who helped the United States during our time in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the Taliban moved into Kabul and declared the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — the old name for nation when the Taliban first controlled it between 1996 and 2001, according to The Associated Press.
As the fall of Afghanistan unfolded, Biden was at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland — and, as of Sunday night, planned to stay there through Wednesday, the AP reported. (It’s worth noting that following the publication of this article, the White House said he would be returning to Washington on Monday and delivering remarks on the situation in Afghanistan.)
However, Camp David is supposed to allow the president to stay on top of things remotely. A picture released by the White House during the disastrous weekend showed the president working hard “with the national security team to discuss the ongoing efforts to draw down our civilian footprint in Afghanistan.”
This morning, the President and Vice President held a video conference with the national security team to discuss the ongoing efforts to draw down our civilian footprint in Afghanistan. In addition, the President and Vice President were briefed on the earthquake in Haiti. pic.twitter.com/7BKSdJ8OKo
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 14, 2021
The picture, released Saturday afternoon, was hardly reassuring.
Photo released by the WH showing Biden alone at a conference table at Camp David does not project much confidence pic.twitter.com/q2dNI92Eui
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 15, 2021
It wasn’t reassuring either when the White House posted a similar photo on Sunday:
This morning, the President and Vice President met with their national security team and senior officials to hear updates on the draw down of our civilian personnel in Afghanistan, evacuations of SIV applicants and other Afghan allies, and the ongoing security situation in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/U7IpK3Hyj8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2021
While the fall of Kabul was sudden — just a week prior, Reuters reported, U.S. intelligence thought the capital had at least three months before Taliban insurgents overtook it — it was clear from the time that Biden left for Camp David that the Taliban’s rush across Afghanistan was accelerating.
Joe Biden heads to Camp David until WEDNESDAY while the Taliban rampages through Afghanistan https://t.co/yfTE9EzV1u
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) August 14, 2021
As the U.K. Daily Mail reported, the Taliban took three major cities that day: Kandahar, Herat and Ghazni. The first is Afghanistan’s second-biggest city, the second a strategic point close to the Iranian border and the third is on a road south of Kabul.
At the time, with comparisons to the fall of South Vietnam’s capital in 1975 already being made, 3,000 U.S. troops were being sent to Afghanistan to aid in an evacuation and the State Department said it would be paring down its 4,000-member contingent in Kabul to what it called a “core diplomatic presence.”
On Saturday, while he was at Camp David, Biden released a statement in which he upped the number of troops involved in the evacuation to 5,000 “to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. personnel and other allied personnel, and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.”
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