Trump criticises Harris over Afghanistan pull-out on bombing anniversary

Donald Trump is trying to tie Vice President to the much-maligned withdrawal under Joe Biden

Former US Marine Corps Cpl Kelsee Lainhart and Donald Trump place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia, for the 13 soldiers killed at Kabul airport in 2021. AP

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, on the third anniversary of an ISIS-claimed suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed 13 US soldiers.

Before a small crowd and accompanied by members of the victims' families, Mr Trump paid tribute to the servicemen who were killed alongside about 170 Afghans at the airport's Abbey Gate dujring the US withdrawal from the country.

“This is the third anniversary of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,” he posted on his Truth Social platform hours before he appeared at the ceremony.

“Gross Incompetence – 13 dead American soldiers, hundreds of people wounded and dead, Americans and billions of dollars of military equipment left behind.

"You don’t take our soldiers out first, you take them out last, when all else is successfully done.”

In separate statements, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris paid tribute to the soldiers, with Ms Harris saying: "These 13 devoted patriots represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their fellow Americans above themselves and deploying into danger to keep their fellow citizens safe."

Mr Trump and other Republicans have condemned Mr Biden and his administration over the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, in which US-led coalition forces left the country en masse, allowing the Taliban to quickly retake the capital with little resistance from the Afghan military.

Now that Mr Biden has left the race in favour of Ms Harris – who is polling slightly higher than Mr Trump – the former president is trying to link the Vice President to the much-maligned pullout.

“Since the Afghanistan catastrophe, it’s been open season on America and its allies,” Mr Trump said during a campaign event in North Carolina last week, where he condemned the mistakes made during the withdrawal.

He said Ms Harris “bragged that she would be the last person in the room, and she was – she was the last person in the room with Biden when the two of them decided to pull the troops out of Afghanistan”.

“She had the final vote. She had the final say and she was all for it.”

Mr Trump has claimed he would have handled the withdrawal better and that the US “didn't have anybody shot after my conversations with the leader of the Taliban, zero shot in 18 months”.

In February 2020, he and Nato allies agreed with the Taliban to withdraw troops within 14 months, under the condition that “Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies”.

Mr Trump has claimed that the US left $85 million worth of equipment behind in Afghanistan. A 2022 independent inspector general report to Congress, however, showed that the US left about $7 billion worth behind.

He has also spoken of veterans and their families' anger over the fallout from the withdrawal.

During the Republican National Convention last month, family members of some Abbey Gate victims appeared on stage, where they accused the Biden administration of “incompetence” that caused their loved ones to be “hung out to dry”.

“Everywhere I go, soldiers and veterans tell me how angry they are that not one person has been held accountable for the Afghanistan catastrophe. He [Mr Biden] never fired anybody,” Mr Trump said in North Carolina.

He said that if re-elected, he will “ask for the resignations of every single senior military official who touched the Afghanistan disaster”.

“Countries all over the world lost respect for us because of Afghanistan. We demand success and we demand victory.”

But the Biden administration has placed most of the blame for the withdrawal on Mr Trump, with a summary of classified reports released by the National Security Council in April showing that the former president had promised a pullout but failed to adequately prepare for one.

“President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the report said.

“The outgoing administration provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans or Afghan allies.”

Mr Trump's increasing focus on Afghanistan comes amid renewed Democratic enthusiasm for the new ticket led by Ms Harris, which has reportedly caused concern in the Republican presidential campaign, especially as the first debate between the two candidates approaches in September.

Quoting a source with knowledge of the issue, Politico reported that Mr Trump has suggested he understands that he could lose in November if he does not dramatically change his approach to the race, which has, up to now, prioritised personal attacks against Mr Biden and Ms Harris.