GOP Leaders Try to Rewrite History When it Comes To Afghanistan

Donald Trump has spent the last couple months boasting about his deal with the Taliban that put the withdrawal in motion and calling on Joe Biden to withdraw our troops even quicker.

Slate: “The falsehoods notwithstanding, Trump’s statement will no doubt be parroted by congressional Republicans and conservative pundits in the coming weeks and months. When Biden first announced his withdrawal in April, his critics were nonplussed. Trump, after all, had long called for a pullout; in fact, he initially supported Biden’s decision.”

Trump in July: “All the troops are coming back home. They couldn’t stop the process. 21 years is enough. Don’t we think? 21 years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process.”

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who sat down to negotiate with Taliban leaders without involving the Afghan government, also applauded President Biden’s withdrawal.

Mike Pompeo: “‘I applaud’ the withdrawal, and ‘want fewer [American] kids in harms way. I want the Afghans to take up the fight for themselves.’”

Until last week, the Republican National Committee website lauded Trump for his deal with the Taliban to withdraw by May 2021.

Business Insider: “The page had praised Trump’s attempts to end the US’ two-decade military involvement in Afghanistan, describing how he ‘continued to take the lead in peace talks as he signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which would end America’s longest war.’ It was referring to a February 2020 conditional peace deal between Trump and the Taliban, which committed the US to cutting the number of troops in Afghanistan if the Taliban did not provide support to terrorist groups.”

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