KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Saturday seized on President Biden’s comment about non-existence of armed groups in the country, terming it “acknowledgement of reality”.

“We consider remarks by US Pre­sident Joe Biden about non-existence of armed groups in Afghanistan as acknowledgement of reality,” the ministry of Afghan foreign affairs stated.

“It refutes the recent report by UN sanctions monitoring team alleging the presence and operation of over twenty armed groups in Afghanistan.”

Biden was leaving a presser on US Supreme Court’s decision to block his student debt relief programme when a reporter asked if he admitted to mistakes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

State Dept review of Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump

“No, no. All the evidence is coming back,” Biden replied.

“Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said Al Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban.

“What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”

The question was prompted by a report that stated US officials were inhibited during mass evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021 by a lack of clear decision-making, an absence of centralised crisis management and confusing public messaging.

Critical of Biden, Trump

Completed over a year ago but released on June 30 this year, the State Department’s After Action Review report criticised the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former US-backed government.

Adverse findings in the report also reflected badly on Secretary Blinken, without naming him. They included the department’s failure to expand its crisis-management task force as the Taliban advanced on Kabul in August 2021 and the lack of a senior diplomat “to oversee all elements of the crisis response”.

It called for reforms including appointing a single person in charge during future crises and insulating contingency planning from political considerations.

The report praised the end result of the evacuation — the pullout of 125,000 people, including 6,000 private US citizens. But it said that the operation faced a “major challenge” as senior officials in Biden’s administration “had not made clear decisions” ahead of time about which at-risk Afghans to assist.

“Constantly changing policy guidance and public messaging from Washington regarding which populations were eligible for relocation and how the embassy should manage outreach and flow added to the confusion and often failed to take into account key facts on the ground,” it said.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2023