White House: Melting away of US-trained Afghan army led to chaos

The White House has said that the melting away of the 300,000-person US-trained Afghan army led to chaos in Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.  

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said on Friday that the scenes of chaos in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Afghan government are “not acceptable” to President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

In an interview with MSNBC, Bedingfield was asked if the president had any regrets over the circumstances of the withdrawal.

“Of course, these scenes are heartbreaking. Of course, the images that we’ve seen over the last week are difficult. I think at any time when a government and a 300,000-person army essentially melts away, there’s going to be some level of chaos. That doesn’t make it acceptable. It’s not acceptable to the president,” Bedingfield said.

Bedingfield claimed that the Biden administration was prepared for all contingencies, including the current chaotic situation. She added that the White House is working to evacuate Americans and Afghans who assisted US troops at a rapid pace.  

“That’s why he has directed the Department of Defense to move to get every American out of Afghanistan who wants to get out, to get our Afghan allies out of Afghanistan. It’s why we’re able to have flights taking off and the numbers of people we’re seeing continue to increase each day that we’re moving out of the country,” Bedingfield said.

“There is no question, of course, those scenes of chaos are heartbreaking, but we are working to get every American out of Afghanistan who wants to get out of Afghanistan,” she added.

Biden has come under intense scrutiny for the chaotic exit of the military from Afghanistan, and his failure to provide a safe passage for US citizens and some Afghans from Kabul.

Addressing the situation in Afghanistan, Biden told an ABC News television interview that it had been impossible to leave Afghanistan without chaos, as the United States pleaded with the victorious Taliban to allow safe passage for people to flee.

“No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way that, we're gonna go back in hindsight and look — but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened,” Biden said.

He also said, if needed, US forces would be staying in Afghanistan beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for a full withdrawal to pull out all US citizens.

Biden had repeatedly vowed the withdrawal from Afghanistan would be orderly, deliberate and safe and that there were no circumstances that Afghanistan would suddenly fall to the Taliban, after 20 years of war and occupation.

UN report: Taliban conducting 'targeted door-to-door visits'

A secret United Nations document alleges that Taliban militants now ruling Afghanistan are “intensifying” efforts to hunt down elements that collaborated with US and NATO forces despite pledges of general amnesty by the group.

But the Taliban, who started to make gains since the withdrawal process began in May, eventually took over the capital Kabul on Sunday.

The militants entered the presidential palace after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, declaring that the war in Afghanistan was over.

Biden, who acknowledged that he was stunned by the swift collapse of Kabul, said, "I don't think it was a failure.”

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