The Taliban has once again gained control of Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region after 20 years of occupation in a war that's cost hundreds of thousands of lives and nearly $1 trillion.
While a Taliban resurgence was expected in the region, officials hadn't expected their forces to advance so quickly, seizing control of the presidential palace in Kabul this weekend.
The development is an unmitigated foreign policy disaster for the Biden administration, but no American President in recent history is blameless in a war whose 20 years have proven to be completely ineffective at laying the groundwork for lasting stability in the region.
Former President Donald Trump has said Biden should "resign in disgrace," but Trump was wildly praised by the GOP for his so-called peace agreement with the Taliban, even inviting the group to Camp David on the week of September 11. The Trump plan would've withdrawn 5000 troops from the region by May of 2020.
In a Fox News interview, Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, faced questions from host Chris Wallace about the Trump administration's constant outreach to the Taliban.
Watch below.
Chris Wallace throws Mike Pompeo's past praise for the Taliban back in his face.\n\n"Do you regret giving the Taliban that legitimacy? Do you regret pressing the Afghan government to release 5,000 prisoners... some of whom are now back on the battlefield fighting with the Taliban?"pic.twitter.com/cfISbYYgTD— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1629038784
Wallace asked:
"You were the first American secretary of state to ever meet with the Taliban, and you talked about how they had agreed to join us in the fight against terrorism. ... Do you regret giving the Taliban that legitimacy? Do you regret pressing the Afghan government to release 5,000 prisoners, which they did, some of whom are now back on the battlefield fighting with the Taliban?"
Pompeo responded:
"We never trusted the Taliban. You can ask them yourselves. We made abundantly clear if they did not live up to that piece of paper, to the words that they'd put on the ground, we weren't gonna allow them to just walk away from any deal that they'd struck, we were gonna go crush them."
People weren't convinced.
This is a good question but Pompeo\u2019s response shouldn\u2019t be allowed to stand without follow up. The Taliban broke its agreement with the Trump admin while Trump and Pompeo were still in office, and they obv didn\u2019t \u201ccrush\u201d anything. Trump withdrew US forces after losing reelection.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— southpaw (@southpaw) 1629039589
Pompeo trying to make political capital out of the situation he helped to create. Good job to Chris Wallace for sticking it to him.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— John Cassidy (@John Cassidy) 1629039948
This war has made fools of us all. End it.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Derek Summerville (@Derek Summerville) 1629040644
Mike claims \u201cwe crushed them\u201d. Huh https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Christine King (@Christine King) 1629040156
When your address permanently is the river of Denial 666 Screw Up lanehttps://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Free-Press The-Punohu-Report (@Free-Press The-Punohu-Report) 1629102220
Pompeo is the world\u2019s foremost expert in explaining how he clearly meant exactly the opposite of what he clearly said.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— B. (@B.) 1629074873
Others praised Wallace for the tough question.
Chris Wallace, trying to live up to his dad - and doing a decent job of it.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Where's Your Data? (@Where's Your Data?) 1629039249
Thank you Chris Wallace for reminding everyone that the Trump/Pompeo deal elevated the Taliban to a legitimate political party, working side-by-side against Al Qaeda.\n\nTrump quote: "time for someone else to do that work and it will be the Taliban"https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Artzthings \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf34\ud83d\udc89 (@Artzthings \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf34\ud83d\udc89) 1629040681
Good on Chris Wallace for bringing this up but all the people who watch Fox news are probably asking for is resignation.https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1426918201670176771\u00a0\u2026— Ben Diebold (@Ben Diebold) 1629058618
Biden will deliver remarks about the chaos in Afghanistan later this afternoon.
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