President Joe Biden's decision to remove US troops from Afghanistan is "a wonderful and positive thing to do," according to former President Donald Trump. Still, he opposed the timing and said the US should get out sooner.
Trump support Afghanistan withdrawal but opposed Biden's timeline
The declaration puts Trump against top Republicans, who have slammed the decision, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) labeling it a grave mistake and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) calling it a disaster waiting to happen. Biden declared that US troops would begin withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1, 2021, with a complete withdrawal by September 11, as per AXIOS.
Despite his support for President Joe Biden's efforts to send American troops home, the former President encouraged his successor to conclude America's longest war well before the September 11 deadline set by Biden last week. Though Trump claimed that leaving Afghanistan is a wonderful and positive decision to do, he also noticed that he had made a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal and that the US should stay as close to that date as possible.
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"For two reasons, I hope Biden did not use September 11 as US troops withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan. First, we should leave sooner. In reality, nineteen years is far too many and far too long," Trump stated his opinion. "September 11 marks a very tragic day and time for the US, and it should be remembered as a day of reflection and remembrance for those lost great souls."
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama met with Biden ahead of his decision last week, and Trump is the first former commander in chief to weigh in on his strategy. Biden's decision to conclude the almost 20-year conflict, which has spanned all four administrations, was welcomed by Obama, KDRV reported.
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Afghanistan President support Biden's US troops withdrawal
Biden said the removal of American troops would begin on May 1, in accordance with the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban. Any US troops will stay in the country to secure American diplomats, but officials have yet to specify how many.
In an exclusive interview on CNN's "GPS" on Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he supports Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the area, saying the move radically changes the sense of the situation in the country, the region, and the Islamic world. He went on to say that his entire energy is now devoted to operating in that new context.
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan argued earlier Sunday that US goals in Afghanistan had been met, but he fell short of claiming the battle had been "won." Instead, he told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that the US must now concentrate on the "next 20 years" of fights rather than the previous 20. "The terrorist threat has changed dramatically in the last 20 years," Sullivan said, citing al Qaeda's expansion into Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq, as examples.
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