Biden-Harris administration in ‘denial’ about botched Afghanistan withdrawal, HR McMaster says
Former Trump national security adviser says Biden administration 'told themselves lies' about the Taliban
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Trump National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said the Biden administration is in "denial" over the disastrous 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal that left 13 U.S. service members dead and eventually allowed the Taliban to seize power.
"We are still dealing with what I would call the stain of August 2021," McMaster said Monday on "America’s Newsroom."
"We’re seeing that with a number of consequences as we commemorate the loss of these courageous service men and women, but the consequences are also in the area of a resurgence of jihadist terrorist organizations," McMaster continued. "The [Biden] administration told themselves lies about this bold line between the Taliban and other terrorist organizations."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HARRIS 'LAST PERSON IN THE ROOM' VIDEO GOES VIRAL ON 3RD ANNIVERSARY OF DEADLY AFGHANISTAN ATTACK
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, clasps her hand in the air with President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Monday marks three years since the Aug. 26, 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members and more than 100 Afghans. Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris said as vice president that she was the last person in the room when President Biden decided to move forward with the withdrawal, only four months before the terror attack.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McMaster, the author of the new book "At War With Ourselves," said at least 65 terror cells are now inside Afghanistan, and that terrorists are in charge of the state. He said the threat of jihadist terrorism has gone "way up," but that’s not the only issue related to the botched withdrawal.
"I think you can draw a direct line between August 2021 and the renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. I think Putin looked at us leaving in such disarray, in such a humiliating fashion, and said, ‘These guys are finished… and I’m going to have my way with Ukraine,’" McMaster said.
HARRIS LEAVES OUT DEADLY BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IN SOARING PRO-MILITARY DNC SPEECH
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, center, inspects the honor guards during a military parade to mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, in Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
"America’s Newsroom" co-anchor Dana Perino said women have been set back in Afghanistan since the botched withdrawal by the Taliban rising to power again, but the Biden administration has been largely mum on the topic.
Last week, Taliban rulers issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Well, they’re in denial about it, completely," McMaster said.
"These are people that were extolling, you know, various rights that are associated with their own view of human rights, and then they abandoned the Afghan people. They threw them under the bus," he continued. "I think what’s most disconcerting about this period of time, is we negotiated a withdraw… a surrender, essentially, as I would call it. A self-defeat, at least."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.