Trump holds responsibility for Afghanistan withdraw Ex-adviser says

Retired Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, who served as national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, has publicly criticized Trump’s role in the poorly executed US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

McMaster's remarks come amid ongoing criticism directed at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from Trump and other Republicans regarding the chaotic end of the US presence in Afghanistan, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

The last American troops exited Afghanistan in August 2021, shortly after an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US service members and 170 Afghan civilians. Trump attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack, blaming Biden and Harris for the tragedy. 

Although the withdrawal was carried out under Biden, it was the Trump administration that initiated negotiations with the Taliban in 2020. McMaster, who was Trump's national security adviser from February 2017 to April 2018, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Trump bears partial responsibility for the situation due to his decision to negotiate with the Taliban.

McMaster questioned the logic of these talks, criticizing the decision to negotiate rather than simply leaving Afghanistan.

McMaster pointed out that the Obama administration did not negotiate with al-Qaeda or Iraq during its troop withdrawals, suggesting that the Trump administration's approach was flawed. He specifically criticized the Trump administration for pressuring the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as part of the negotiation process.

In response, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed McMaster's comments as fabricated, accusing the media of sensationalism. Cheung continued to blame Biden and Harris for what he termed one of the greatest American blunders in history.