Biden should resign 'in disgrace' over Afghanistan fallout: Trump
Monday, 16 August 2021 (14:59 IST)
Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has demanded the resignation of his successor Joe Biden “in disgrace” as the Taliban’s took over the Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American troops.
"It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan," Mr Trump said in an email statement to his followers on Sunday.
"This shouldn't be a big deal, because he wasn't elected legitimately in the first place," he said, perpetuating his claim that Biden won the presidency via election fraud.
He also cited “the tremendous surge in COVID, the border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and crippled economy”, in the statement.
He said the withdrawal from Afghanistan would have been “much different and much more successful” if he was the President.
“What Joe Biden has done with Afghanistan is legendary. It will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history!” he said in another statement.
It was under Trump regime that the US brokered a deal with the Taliban in Doha in 2020 that would have seen the withdrawal of all US troops by May 2021, in exchange for various security guarantees from the militants.
The Biden administration has said that it is Trump who negotiated the Doha deal on the withdrawal of the US troops, and that a majority of the American public favours ending "forever wars”.
Mr Biden has been facing criticism that the withdrawal was mismanaged. The US has sent 6,000 troops and Chinook helicopters to evacuate its diplomats and other staff from the sprawling embassy.
Mr Biden on Saturday defended his decision to withdraw US troops. "One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me," he said.
Trump’s statement comes as the Taliban took over Afghanistan and toppled the government, with the president, Ashraf Ghani leaving the country on Sunday. (UNI)
