The US pullout from Kabul in 2021 was “gross incompetence,” former President Donald Trump said on Monday after attending a commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery for the 13 troops killed during the debacle. He also slammed US president Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for snubbing the ceremony for the fallen soldiers.
Eleven marines, a soldier and a Navy medic died in the Abbey Gate attack, along with 170 Afghan civilians. Islamic State (IS/ISIS) claimed responsibility for the August 26, 2021 bombing, which came amid the frantic evacuation from the Kabul airport. The US-backed regime in Afghanistan had collapsed and the Taliban had taken over ten days prior.
“This is the third anniversary of the BOTCHED Afghanistan withdrawal, the most EMBARRASSING moment in the history of our Country,’‘ Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
He accused Biden and Harris of “gross incompetence” that led to the deaths of 13 troops and hundreds of civilians and made the US “a laughing stock all over the World.”
The drone strike in response to the Abbey Gate massacre killed ten innocent Afghan civilians instead, most of them children. The actual mastermind of the suicide bombing was killed by the Taliban in April 2023.
No one in the Biden administration nor the US military was held accountable for failures in Afghanistan. Only one officer who dared to publicly criticize the withdrawal operation and demand accountability – US Marine Colonel Stuart Scheller – was arrested and kicked out of the service.
While attending the ceremony for those killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal, Trump laid three wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, alongside some of the family members of the fallen.
Neither Biden nor Harris was in attendance at Arlington. The president’s last public appearance was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week. Harris issued a written statement on the White House website, praising Biden for “the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war.”
“On this solemn day, let us come together as one nation to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice three years ago on behalf of the United States and our cherished freedoms. Our grateful nation mourns and salutes them,” the statement said. “In their memory, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the cause they gave their lives for: to protect and defend the greatest democracy on Earth, the United States of America.”
Biden has been criticized for snubbing fallen soldiers and their families before. He was caught checking his watch during the arrival of the remains of soldiers at a Delaware air force base in August 2021.