Blinken Defends Afghan Pullout as He Faces Angry Lawmakers
- Democrats focus on Trump deal, while Republicans blast pullout
- Biden team ‘inherited a deadline,’ not a plan, Blinken says
This article is for subscribers only.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal during a contentious hearing in which Republican lawmakers accused the administration of manipulating intelligence and demanded he resign.
Blinken said there was “no evidence” that staying any longer would have helped to make Afghan security forces more resilient. He said lessons should be learned, including that “using military force to try to remake a society is something that is beyond our means, beyond our capacity,” while laying much of the blame with the Trump administration.