U.S. president Donald Trump has once again criticized the manner in which American military forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan during the presidency of Joe Biden. He described the process as “disastrous” and claimed that its consequences enabled the Taliban to release thousands of prisoners, including individuals linked to terrorist organizations and serious crimes, from the Bagram prison.
Trump made the remarks in a statement marking the anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in the 2021 terrorist attack at Kabul’s airport. He described the attack as a consequence of what he called the “absolute incompetence” of Joe Biden and the Democrats, while criticizing the way the withdrawal of U.S. forces was handled.
The U.S. president said that the decisions and actions taken during the withdrawal left American forces in a vulnerable position. According to Trump, this situation gave the Taliban an opportunity to take control of Bagram Air Base and release dangerous prisoners from the detention facility.
Trump also referred to his meetings with the families of the service members killed in the Kabul airport attack, claiming that the Democratic Party had failed to pay sufficient attention to the families’ demands and concerns. He went on to say that, after returning to the White House, his administration had fulfilled its promise by apprehending the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attack.
The U.S. president described the Kabul airport attack as one of the greatest tragedies in his country’s history and stressed the need to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. He said Washington must learn from the experience of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.
The suicide attack on August 26, 2021, took place at Kabul’s airport during a large-scale evacuation operation from Afghanistan. At the time, thousands of Afghan and foreign nationals had gathered around the airport in an effort to leave the country following the Taliban’s return to Kabul. ISIS-K, the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch, claimed responsibility for the attack. Thirteen U.S. service members and more than 160 Afghan civilians were killed.
Bagram Air Base, which had served for years as one of the most important U.S. military and intelligence facilities in Afghanistan, was evacuated by American forces several weeks before the fall of Kabul. After the Taliban took control of the base, the Bagram prison was opened, and thousands of prisoners—including members of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and ISIS—were released or escaped from detention. The incident later became a major focus of Republican criticism of the U.S. withdrawal.
Trump’s renewed criticism of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan comes as the Biden administration’s handling of the end of the 20-year war has faced widespread domestic and international criticism since the evacuation operation in 2021. Critics have described the process as rushed and lacking adequate planning, while supporters of ending the U.S. military presence have argued that continuing the war could have resulted in even greater human and financial costs for the United States.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
