Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to Joe Biden, seemingly let slip another lie that Biden gave to America about the Afghanistan crisis, about if the Pentagon recommended leaving behind a small force of troops inside Afghanistan for security reasons.
During his interview with ABC News just last week, Joe Biden denied numerous reports that said he had “overruled” top military leaders.
“No, they did not. It was split. That was not true,” Biden said of a report from the WSJ. When pressed by the ABC host about if he ignored their advice, Joe Biden again said, “No.”
The WSJ reported back in April that Biden ignored the recommendations he got from his military commanders when he approved the complete withdrawal of the United States military from Afghanistan.
What did Sullivan let slip?
During his interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” the host of the show, Chuck Todd, asked Sullivan why the United States did not keep a small presence inside Afghanistan which our military leaders reportedly wanted.
The question came after an earlier question in which Todd asked about why Bagram Air Base — a huge air base in east Afghanistan — was closed before the evacuations from Afghanistan. Sullivan said that the base was shutdown because military said the base could be closed.
“So, you followed the advice about closing Bagram. But these same advisers were recommending to you that we keep a force on the ground. They were — they told you not to go forward this withdrawal with the Taliban, right?” Todd inquired.
Sullivan responded by saying that the decision — to completely withdrawal American troops — ultimately was on Joe Biden’s shoulders, regardless of what military commanders said.
“There are judgments that a president has to make. And there are tactical judgments that commanders on the ground decide,” Sullivan said. “If a commander on the ground reports, ‘I need this move or resource to accomplish this mission or keep my troops safe,’ you consider that very heavily.”
“But when it comes to the underlying question of whether the U.S. should stay in a civil war in Afghanistan with our people fighting for a third decade, that is the presidents call, not a call by someone at the Pentagon or the State Dept. or in the intelligence community,” Sullivan said.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
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