McMaster: Trump’s ‘capitulation agreement’ with Taliban led to fall of Kabul

Former US national security adviser H.R. McMaster has said that the rapid Taliban takeover of Afghanistan happened because former President Donald Trump made a “capitulation agreement with Taliban.”

In an interview on NBC News on Tuesday, McMaster, who served under the Trump administration from February 2017 to April 2018, said the fall of the Afghan government “should not have come as a surprise” to the Biden administration.

McMaster was asked to respond to President Joe Biden’s comment on Monday that the territorial gains by the Taliban and the fall of Kabul happened “more quickly than we anticipated.”

“They should not have been surprised,” McMaster responded, adding that the past two administrations delivered “psychological blows to the Afghans” by “telling them that we're going to withdrawal, making concession after concession with the Taliban, not even allowing the Afghan government to participate in what became our capitulation agreement with the Taliban.”

“So, it should not have come as a surprise at all,” the retired Army general added.

“We’ve had three presidents in a row say it’s not worth it in Afghanistan and the American people never heard what they needed to hear from presidential leaders across those three administrations,” said McMaster.

On Monday, Biden stood by his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, saying that “we must move forward from here,” after the Taliban takes over the country.

He argued that his hands were tied on what he could do in the Western Asian country due to Trump’s deal with the Taliban to withdraw American forces by May 2021.

“The choice I had to make as your president was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season,” Biden said. “There would be no ceasefire after May 1.”

McMaster, who left the administration following continued disagreements with Trump over key policy positions, argued that “President Trump, as President Obama had and as President Biden did, prioritized our withdrawal over the achievement of any sort of worthy aim in Afghanistan.”

The ex-Trump official added that the “number one priority” right now should be helping Afghan civilians out of the country as the Taliban are working to form a new government.

Pentagon: US sending 1,000 more troops to Kabul

The Pentagon has announced it will send another 1,000 American troops to Afghanistan to help secure Kabul’s airport.

Meanwhile, the US military on Tuesday vowed to accelerate evacuation flights out of Afghanistan.

Massive groups of Afghan civilians stormed the tarmac of the airport on Monday to catch flights out of Afghanistan, frantically trying to leave the country, which has been occupied by the US since 2001. Some of the people in the crowds tried to hop onto moving planes.

Chaos on the airport prompted the US military to halt flights until the airfield could be secured.

The US military said it is planning to increase to one flight out of Kabul per hour within the next 24 hours, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Joint Staff told reporters.

“I want to reinforce that we are focused on the present mission to facilitate the safe evacuation of US citizens, [Special Immigrant Visa applicants] and Afghans at risk, to get these personnel out of Afghanistan as quickly and as safely as possible,” Taylor said. “That mission has not changed. The mission is of historical significance, and it is incumbent upon us to be resolute in the protection of American and Afghan lives.”

China: US has left an ‘awful mess’ in Afghanistan

China says the United States has left an “awful mess” in Afghanistan after pulling out almost all of its forces from the country and the ensuing takeover of the country by the Taliban militant group.

Several Afghans on Monday were run over by or fell from an American military plane that took off from the runway as they clung to it, according to The Associated Press. At least seven people were killed.

In addition, US troops fatally shot two armed men at Kabul's airport, who they said presented “hostile threats” in two separate incidents. Kirby said there is no indication the two individuals were Taliban.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk