White House walks back Biden's failed predictions about Afghanistan withdrawal
The administration knew that there was a possibility that Kabul would fall to Taliban, WH now says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the White House’s list of talking points for allies defending President Biden’s handling of Afghanistan, the administration knew there was a "distinct" possibility that the capital of Kabul would fall to Taliban insurgents.
In an email to congressional Democrats, the White House laid out guidance for how to publicly discuss the crisis in Afghanistan, as thousands of people try to flee the country that fell to Taliban rule in a matter of days.
The list of talking points, obtained by Fox News, declared that the administration "knew that there was a distinct possibility that Kabul would fall to the Taliban. It was not an inevitability. It was a possibility."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PENTAGON LEADERS REPEATEDLY PRAISED AFGHAN ARMY THAT COLLAPSED IN DAYS
"And the administration planned for every possibility," the guidance continued. "There were contingency plans in place for any eventuality — including a quick fall of Kabul. That’s why they were troops pre-positioned in the region to deploy as they have done."
"Here's what the president was not willing to do: enter a third decade of conflict and surge in thousands of more troops to fight in a Civil War that Afghanistan wouldn’t fight for themselves," another talking point said. "POTUS said in July that the Afghan military had the capability to fight the Taliban. But they had to demonstrate the will. Sadly, that will did not materialize."
The memo also misspelled the name of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, spelling it with just one "L," and said there are no "boots on the ground" in Syria, when there are 900 troops currently deployed there.
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Biden is expected to address the American people about the Afghanistan crisis Monday afternoon after avoiding cameras for several days and watching the crisis unfold from the Camp David presidential retreat. The president last month dismissed the possibility that the Taliban would swarm through Afghanistan, calling it "highly unlikely."
On July 8, he assured Americans there would be "no circumstance" in which the Taliban would storm the U.S. Embassy in Kabul the same way the North Vietnamese stormed the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in 1975.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Those statements came into question over the weekend with footage showing U.S. troops flying helicopters to the embassy in Kabul, rescuing diplomats as insurgents stormed the building. The Taliban claimed victory in the country on Monday.
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich and Tyler O'Neil contributed reporting