“The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan by the Biden administration is an unprecedented affront to our foreign policy,” Pence told Biden. The former vice president denounced Biden’s comments in July, saying it was “unlikely that the Taliban will be able to take over the entire country.” Today, this unlikely scenario has become a “horrific reality”.
According to the letter, the Biden administration has now violated an agreement with the Taliban signed by the Republican Trump administration. Pence writes that if the Taliban adhered to certain agreements, US forces would gradually return home. To do this, the Taliban had to stop their attacks on American targets, provide no shelter for terrorists, and negotiate with Afghan leaders to form a new government.
The withdrawal is said to have been completed by May 1 this year under President Donald Trump. The fact that Biden later decided to keep troops in the country for a longer period, according to Pence, led to the offensive in which the Taliban seized power.
“This position embarrassed America on the world stage, made allies question our credibility, and encouraged enemies to test our resolve,” Pence wrote. “And worst of all, it insulted the memory of the heroic Americans who helped hold terrorists accountable after 9/11, and of all who served in Afghanistan for the past 20 years.”
Former President Trump himself expressed his displeasure with the US presence in Afghanistan in an interview with Fox News earlier this week. Trump said the United States should not have interfered there twenty years ago.