(TheDailyHorn.com) – On Tuesday, September 7, former President Donald Trump didn’t hold back in his criticism of Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a wide-ranging 15-minute interview on Newsmax, Trump accused President Biden of misrepresenting his conditions-based withdrawal and giving the Taliban billions of dollars worth of US military equipment. Among the former president’s critiques was the idea that Joe Biden humiliated the US military after the former president rebuilt it.
In June 2017, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told Congress that the US military was losing its edge in space, air, sea, undersea, land, and cyberspace. The pair warned that in 2022, the United States would lose its ability to defend its homeland and interests abroad. They said the situation was dire.
Throughout Trump’s presidency, the former commander in chief persuaded Congress to invest heavily in the military, and Congress obliged. Now, Trump says Biden gave away America’s strength, and the repercussions could be wide-sweeping.
Taliban Secures Billions in US Military Assets
The US invested heavily in training the Afghan military and supplying it with arms to protect itself. From 2003 to 2016, the United States donated 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons, 164,643 pieces of communications equipment, and 208 aircraft. During the Trump presidency, the US also provided Afghanistan with 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,250 bombs, and 1,394 grenade launchers. As of June 30, there were 211 US aircraft under the control of Afghan forces.
The Biden administration refuses to say how much US military hardware the Taliban acquired, but it has acknowledged it’s a “fair amount.” The administration claims that high-end aircraft and helicopters might work for a time if they force former Afghan pilots to fly them, but maintenance and equipment needs will eventually stop their use.
Trump Blasts Biden
On Tuesday, Donald Trump told Newsmax that Biden empowered the Taliban and other terrorist groups in the process of executing his botched withdrawal. But, perhaps his most stunning statement was that Biden gave the terrorist group $850 billion in topline military equipment, including brand new Apache helicopters.
While the Biden administration says the Taliban can’t fly them, Trump exposed what the Taliban gets just for possessing the Apaches and other high-grade US military equipment. He said the Taliban is giving the military hardware to China, Russia, and Iran to study so that it can rip it off and make something similar.
Trump also said that Biden failed to properly withdraw when the administration stranded Americans in Afghanistan by failing to secure American citizens first. In the months after Trump departed from the White House, the former president said it “all fell down.” Trump also defended his conditions-based arrangement with the Taliban, saying the militia’s leaders knew he would deal with them militarily if they got out of line.
Unfortunately, Taliban leaders don’t fear Joe Biden. Why should they?
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