Comments by "" (@DavidJ222) on "Biden speaks after US withdrawal from Afghanistan" video.

  1. President Biden had two options. He could stick to the agreement that Trump made with the Taliban, or break the agreement and escalate, which would mean starting a new surge. Trump agreed unconditionally to bring down U.S. troop levels to 8,600 by mid-July 2020 and totally withdraw by May 2021.  In August, Trump voluntarily cut troop levels down to 4,500, even more quickly than required by the agreement, even though negotiations had not even begun. This was a clear signal there would be no linkage between withdrawals and peace. Trump had already announced that there would be only 2,500 troops in Afghanistan by the time he left office. This only emboldened the Taliban. They started taking even more territory, and more quickly than it had in years. As the Taliban's power increased, it had even less reason to engage in peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Facts matter.
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