The White House rejected former President George W. Bush’s criticism on Thursday of President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw remaining U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
“We certainly respect the right of the former president to voice his view on Afghanistan and the president’s decision,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at Thursday’s briefing.
Psaki said that Biden shared Bush’s concern about Afghan women but that it was not the first time the Democrat and the Republican have “not seen eye to eye” on the use of military force.
As a senator, Biden voted to authorize both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush administration. The United States invaded Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.
While serving as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden supported an expansive authorization for the use of military force in Iraq after his efforts with Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana to craft a more limited measure fell short in the face of the Bush White House’s opposition. House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt had already come out for the authorization of force resolution that eventually passed both houses of Congress.
On Wednesday, Bush told a German broadcaster in an interview that he disagreed with Biden’s decision to withdraw from the nearly 20-year-old war, predicting that “the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad.”
“I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm,” Bush said. He later added, “They’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart.”
Psaki said that the U.S. would continue to invest diplomatic and economic resources in Afghanistan after the military mission concluded. She also announced that approximately 20,000 Afghans had applied for special immigrant visas made available to citizens of that country who had supported the American war effort.
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Biden announced earlier this year he would withdraw from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks this year, though the removal of the troops is already mostly complete.
Former President Donald Trump had wanted to withdraw by May of this year, though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican congressional leaders have been critical of the idea, citing Taliban gains.
