During Thursday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about reports saying President Biden ignored advice from top U.S. military officials warning against a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“I’d like to ask you a little bit more about the — some of what’s detailed in the upcoming book of Woodward and Costa, specifically in the area of the president taking or not taking the advice of Secretaries Austin and Blinken,” a reporter began.
“We’ve seen the president defend his decision to exit Afghanistan in the way that he did. But as the public [may] see this and read this and say, ‘top, close officials suggested a slower path out.’ The public watched what happened with some of the chaotic things. What should we take from that in terms of how the president processes the information his advisors are giving?” The reporter asked. “And does he have any second thoughts about not taking the gated, slower approach that’s described?”
“Well, I think what people should take — one, let me first say: I’m not going to confirm or substantiate anonymous unconfirmed reports in a book,” Psaki responded. “But I think you’re asking an important question, which is: How does the president take a range of advice from different people? And sometimes it’s conflicting with each other as well, of course.”
“First, what we’ve said from the beginning, as it relates to Afghanistan, is the president asked his team to present to him clear-eyed assessment, candid advice on the path forward,” she continued. “Everyone knew, coming into the beginning of the administration — he knew, the vice president knew, the national security team knew — that we were in a situation facing a May 1st timeline of either getting our troops out or facing conflict with the Taliban. That’s what we walked into and the circumstances we were discussing.”
“What we also know now is that, given it took 6,000 troops to protect the airport, this was not a scenario where it was either maintain the status quo — the president never felt that was a real, viable option,” she added. “And now, we looked at — 6,000 troops were needed to protect the airport. That wouldn’t have been a viable option. It was not the status quo or withdraw; it was withdraw or increase troops. And that’s how he saw the decision.”
Psaki’s comments come after recent reports that Biden was warned against withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, where at least 100 Americans have been left stranded by the Biden administration in the Taliban-controlled country.
According to Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, “Gen. Austin Miller, former Commander of US forces-Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a classified hearing yesterday he advised against the Afghanistan withdrawal, two sources confirm to me.”
