KABUL (Khaama Press): The former commander of US forces in Afghanistan warned Congress that he had repeatedly cautioned Biden about the “very bad” consequences of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Scott Miller told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, “I did not predict a bright future for Afghanistan after the withdrawal.”
Scott Miller testified behind closed doors last month to the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He is one of 20 witnesses who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee following the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. According to the newspaper, Miller’s statements are available in The Washington Post, which provides fresh political ammunition to Biden’s foreign policy critics.
Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a critic of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, told the newspaper that Miller’s testimony shows how Biden’s order of “rapid withdrawal to the last man” hastened the fall of Afghanistan and the subsequent tragedy in the country.
Miller, who commanded US and NATO forces in Afghanistan from September 2018 to July 2021, told lawmakers that when he received the order to withdraw all foreign forces in 2020, he saw that “Afghanistan was burning.”
According to experts, the Doha agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 weakened the Afghan government significantly, ultimately resulting in the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan without consulting the Afghan government. The Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban in February 2020, sidelining senior Afghan officials. Later that year, Trump ordered the reduction of troops first to 4,500 and then to 2,500.
After taking office, Biden implemented Trump’s government agreement with the Taliban to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan, but before the last American soldier left, the Afghan government collapsed with the president fleeing on August 15, 2021.
