Jake Sullivan says 'history has judged well' Biden's call to withdraw from Afghanistan

Tapper had no follow-up questions about the chaos surrounding the withdrawal, the abandonment of Bagram Air Base, the billions of dollars of military hardware left behind, or the 13 Americans killed by a terrorist attack during the withdrawal.

Published: January 12, 2025 4:14pm

Updated: January 12, 2025 6:56pm

Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday on CNN that Biden made the right strategic decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, and said that history reflects well on that decision. 

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Sullivan if he feels “personally responsible for the failures in the withdrawal” from Afghanistan. Sullivan dodged the question, saying “I think the entire team, the entire national security team has responsibility for everything in our national security, and that includes me as the national security adviser.”

Ignoring the question of how they withdrew, he then said that “The strategic call President Biden made, looking back three years, history has judged well and will continue to judge well.” 

“From the point of view that, if we were still in Afghanistan today, Americans would be fighting and dying; Russia would have more leverage over us; we would be less able to respond to the major strategic challenges we face,” he continued.

Tapper had no follow-up questions about the chaos surrounding the withdrawal, the abandonment of Bagram Air Base and the billions of dollars of military hardware left behind, or the 13 Americans killed by a terrorist attack during the withdrawal. The Abbey Gate terrorist attack during the withdrawal resulted in the killing of 13 U.S. servicemembers, another 45 wounded, and more than 170 Afghan civilians killed. 

Sullivan was asked about reports that he had offered to resign after the Afghanistan withdrawal, and said that he would not give details of his personal conversations with the president.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” and was asked about whether or not President-elect Donald Trump would extend the process of bringing Afghans to the U.S. 

“I think the Afghan refugees who actively fought on the side of Americans, saved American lives, tried to help win against the Taliban — I think they deserve an unusual level of support and treatment,” Gingrich replied.

A September report from GOP members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized President Biden for the chaotic withdrawal, calling it a rushed task that was undergone despite counsel from allies and advisers and resulted in unnecessary deaths, according to The Hill

The executive summary of the report stated that “On April 14, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his decision to unconditionally withdraw all U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. Over the following four months, the administration repeatedly delayed critical action that was necessary to mitigate the likely consequences of the decision. The result of their inaction was a chaotic Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) where 13 U.S. servicemembers lost their lives and more than 800 Americans were abandoned behind enemy lines."

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