Former Vice President Mike Pence this week blasted President Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, calling it “disastrous.”
“The Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis,” Pence wrote in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
Pence cited Biden’s July remarks that the “Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country [of Afghanistan] is highly unlikely,” with Pence noting it is now becoming a “horrifying reality.”
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Sunday after sweeping across the country and into Kabul in a matter of days following the exit of U.S. troops.
Biden has defended his decision to withdraw the U.S. amid the scenes of chaos in Kabul, arguing he was constrained by a deal negotiated under his predecessor, former President Trump, with the Taliban for U.S. forces to withdraw this past May while blaming Afghan leaders for the country’s sudden collapse.
Pence in his op-ed criticized Biden’s approach as weak and accused him of “breaking the deal” the former administration had with the Taliban that promised retribution, echoing Trump’s sentiments that Biden failed to follow “the plan” left by the prior administration.
“Once Mr. Biden broke the deal, the Taliban launched a major offensive against the Afghan government and seized Kabul. They knew there was no credible threat of force under this president. They’ve seen him kowtow to anti-Semitic terrorist groups like Hamas, restore millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority, and sit by earlier this year while thousands of rockets rained down on Israeli civilians,” Pence wrote.
“Weakness arouses evil—and the magnitude of evil now rising in Afghanistan speaks volumes about the weaknesses of Mr. Biden,” Pence added. “It has embarrassed America on the world stage, caused allies to doubt our dependability, and emboldened enemies to test our resolve. Worst of all, it has dishonored the memory of the heroic Americans who helped bring terrorists to justice after 9/11, and all who served in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.”
Pence concluded that “the manner in which Mr. Biden has executed this withdrawal is a disgrace, unworthy of the courageous American service men and women whose blood still stains the soil of Afghanistan.”
Biden on Monday defended his decision amid criticism, saying, “I stand squarely behind my decision.”
“After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces,” he said at the time.