After the Taliban quickly came to power, questions about the role of the secret services are mounting. When withdrawing from Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden does not admit any mistakes – but wants to leave troops in Kabul longer for evacuations if necessary.
According to US President Joe Biden, the chaos during the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was inevitable – due to the collapse of the Afghan government, the military and the rapid takeover of power by the Taliban. Biden said in an interview with television station ABC on Wednesday that he did not know how one could have managed to pull the trigger “without chaos” in view of this situation. At the same time, he assured that the US soldiers at Kabul airport could, if necessary, stay beyond the planned departure date on August 31, if not all Americans wishing to leave have been evacuated by then.
“If there are still American citizens there, we’ll stay until we get them all out,” Biden said in the interview. When asked if the US government made mistakes in the face of the recent chaos at the Kabul airport, or if the situation could have been dealt with better, Biden replied, “No. I don’t think we could manage it in any way ( …) to get out without chaos. I don’t know how to do that. “
Controversial role of the US secret services
The US military, meanwhile, said there had been no warnings from the intelligence services predicting such a rapid collapse of the government and armed forces in Afghanistan. “There was nothing I saw, or anyone else, that indicated a collapse of this army and government within eleven days,” said Chief of Staff Mark Milley. There have been several scenarios, including a rapid takeover of power by the Taliban after a collapse. “But the timeline for a rapid collapse was widely estimated to be weeks, months, or even years after we left,” Milley said.
Milley emphasized that the Afghan security forces were superior to the Taliban in terms of troop strength, training and equipment. Ultimately, it was a question of “will and leadership”. ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos asked Biden about his remarks last month that the Taliban would “highly unlikely” to come to power. Biden said there was “no consensus” within the secret services about the forecasts for Afghanistan. At that time it was said that a takeover of power was more likely towards the end of the year.
US media had recently reported, citing intelligence circles, that the government should have received internal warnings of a possibly very rapid collapse.
The question of a possible failure of the secret services should also occupy the parliamentary control body of the Bundestag on Thursday (9 a.m.) in Berlin. According to information from the German Press Agency, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service responsible for foreign intelligence, Bruno Kahl, was also expected at a special meeting. The body monitors the work of the German secret services. The Interior Committee of the Bundestag should also hold a special session because of Afghanistan.
Biden’s goal: to end the mission by August 31st
In the interview, Biden admitted that the Taliban had problems evacuating Afghans. The Islamists would “cooperate” and let US citizens and embassy employees leave the country, he said. Regarding the evacuation of the former Afghan US officials and forces, however, Biden said there was “a little more trouble” getting them out.
Biden spoke of around 50,000 to 65,000 helpers, including their families, but did not want to commit whether the US military would extend its deployment to evacuate them. “The obligation is to get out everyone we can get out and everyone who should be got out,” said Biden. The goal is still to complete the mission by August 31.
According to its own statements, the US military has so far evacuated a good 5,000 people. The Bundeswehr is also continuing its evacuation flights from Kabul to the Uzbek capital Tashkent. Their military machines flew more than 900 people by early Thursday morning.
Maas: location at the airport “extremely chaotic”
The Taliban have controlled Kabul and set up checkpoints in front of the airport. According to reports, many Afghans, but also some foreigners, have not been let through by them. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the situation at the airport on Wednesday after the meeting of the federal government’s crisis team as still in some cases “extremely chaotic”. “The number of access points is limited. And according to our information, hundreds of people gather in front of these gates, sometimes even thousands, and there have been outbreaks of violence again and again,” he said.
The airport is now controlled by the US military. According to the military, the commander of the US troops there is in regular contact with the Taliban leader who has the upper hand over the area around the airport. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the Pentagon that the military would “do everything in our power” to defuse the situation and ensure people could get through to the airport. He stressed, however, that it was not possible for the US military to expand its operations to Kabul.
Probably as an indirect warning to the Taliban, Chief of Staff Milley emphasized that in addition to the currently 4,500 soldiers at Kabul Airport, the US military also has access to numerous fighter jets, bombers and drones in the region if necessary. In Kabul itself there are also a “significant number” of helicopters, said Milley. Among other things, squadrons of the F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft as well as the MQ-9 drones and long-range B-52 bombers known as “reaper” (Grim Reaper) are available in the region.
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