Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday rejected the notion reportedly concluded by American intelligence agencies that Kabul could fall within six months.
His comment came during a meeting at the Pentagon with top defense leaders as American troops are being withdrawn from his country and the Taliban take more positions in the north.
Ghani met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the United States pulled more than 50% of its manpower and capabilities from the country and with little clarity regarding how military support can be continued from “over the horizon,” if at all. President Joe Biden called for all U.S. troops and contractors to exit the country by Sept. 11, but the U.S. is on pace to complete the drawdown in July. The meeting with Ghani and High Council for National Reconciliation Chairman Abdullah Abdullah comes ahead of a White House meeting with Biden Friday afternoon.
“There have been many such predictions, and they have all proven — turned out false,” Ghani responded to a question about the intelligence assessment before the meeting with Austin, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. John Hyten, and others commenced.
In his prepared remarks, Austin underscored America’s deep investment “in the security and stability of Afghanistan” and in the peace process between the Kabul government and the Taliban.
AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL NEARS 50% COMPLETION AS QUESTIONS ON INTERPRETERS REMAIN UNANSWERED
“The United States remains committed to continuing to provide critical security assistance to the Afghan national defense and security forces,” Austin said. “We will remain partners with the Afghan government and the Afghan military. And we will continue to work toward our common goal in a new and different way.”
That way increasingly is said to be via financial assistance to Kabul. The mission ending in Afghanistan is a counterterrorism one that has also included air support to the Afghan Armed Forces when under attack.
As the U.S. has shifted its focus to safely withdrawing in concert with NATO allies, that support has waned, and the Taliban has gained ground.
In congressional testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley detailed the losses known to the Defense Department.
“There’s 81 district centers that have, that are currently, we think, are underneath Taliban control. That’s of 419 District Centers,” he said. “It is true that the Taliban are sniping at and picking off outposts.”
With the president and many people ready to move on from the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan that took the lives of more than 2,000 Americans, military leaders, too, have shifted the burden to the 300,000-strong Afghan Armed Forces.
“It is their job to defend their country,” Milley added.
Nonetheless, the U.S. has invested billions in securing the rights of women and girls and building up the Afghan Armed Forces. The Afghan Air Force still depends on American contractors for maintenance, one of the many unresolved issues as the U.S. frantically negotiates with countries in the region seeking a basing agreement.
Without a regional basing agreement, intelligence and reconnaissance missions must fly some four hours from bases in the Gulf countries.
Commanders and politicians are also concerned about the tens of thousands of Afghans who have helped coalition forces over the decades. The number, including families, could be as high as 70,000 people.
Biden has said he would ensure the Afghans applying for special immigrant visas would not be left behind to face possible retaliation by the Taliban. While the DOD has insisted it is planning for their evacuation, no orders have been handed down yet.
In his remarks ahead of the Pentagon meeting, which followed several drone strikes by American aircraft in his country, Ghani said he did not feel his country was being abandoned by the U.S.
“The false narrative of abandonment is just false. We have a lot together and love together, and together, we will accomplish,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Ghani and Abdullah struck an optimistic note, highlighting bipartisan congressional support, with Ghani saying that lawmakers “should not be over worried.”
Nonetheless, he acknowledged, “The situation of course presents challenges.”
