The president chose the “worst” option for withdrawal from Afghanistan

President Joe Biden chose the “worst of all possible worlds” when deciding how to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, the former commander of the US Central Command (Centcom) who oversaw the US withdrawal there told VOA.

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie wrote in a new book, “The Melting Point,” that he briefed President Biden in February 2021 on four military options in Afghanistan: one that would keep about 2,500 U.S. forces in the country and eight bases; one that would reduce the number of US forces to 1,800 and reduce it to three bases; one that would remove all US forces and keep the embassy in place, and another that would remove all US forces and the US embassy.

Biden chose the third option, which attempted to keep the embassy in the country, American citizens and Afghans at risk.

“I felt like choosing that particular approach was the worst of all possible worlds,” McKenzie told VOA in an interview Monday.

In a speech explaining the decision, Biden said the United States could not continue the cycle of extending or expanding its military presence in the hope of better conditions for withdrawal.

“While we will no longer be militarily involved in Afghanistan, our diplomatic and humanitarian work will continue. We will continue to support the government of Afghanistan. “We will continue to provide assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces,” Biden said.

McKenzie also wrote in his book that the Doha agreement, signed by then-President Donald Trump’s administration and the Taliban in 2020, was “one of the worst negotiating mistakes” by the United States.

Speaking to VOA, he said the negotiations, orchestrated by then-ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, committed the United States to an exit schedule without requiring the Taliban to meet agreed-upon conditions.

When Trump announced the deal, he warned: “If bad things happen, we will come back with strength like we have never seen before.”

According to McKenzie, Presidents Biden and Trump “shared a common political goal: getting out of Afghanistan without regard to the consequences.”

McKenzie said Iran and Russia now have a “marriage of convenience” and expressed concern about what Russia might be giving Iran in exchange for Iranian drones and missiles to use against Ukraine.

He said the Ukrainians should be able to shoot anywhere inside Russia that is attacking Ukraine, “but with certain limits” in areas such as Russian nuclear sites.

“You can’t give them shelter there,” he said.

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