Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lit up the Biden administration on Thursday after spokesman John Kirby said he was “proud” of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 Americans dead. During a heated exchange with reporter Peter Doocy earlier that day, Kirby talked about “accountability” and blamed the Trump administration for the disaster. Pompeo joined Fox News’ The Story to give his response,
“It is outrageous what Kirby said today. And this report is based upon things that are just simply not true,” Pompeo said.
“I am outraged by the fact that the 13 Americans that were killed there didn’t have to happen. And President Biden made the political decision to announce the date of withdrawal, to publicize it, and then to withdraw – in spite of the fact that the military clearly had told him that was a likely outcome. I don’t know what they’re talking about.”
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On Thursday, the Biden administration released a 12-page report defending the decision to withdraw from the decades-long war in Afghanistan while acknowledging failures in the withdrawal process. Rather than accept responsibility, however, the Biden administration claimed they had been “constrained” by the previous administration under Trump, leading to the crisis.
“This was entirely predictable,” Pompeo refuted.
“We didn’t constrain them at all. The Biden administration has demonstrated their willingness to break up good plans that the Trump administration had.”
You just can’t make this up. This admin has now gone off the deep end. No one is buying this.
Pompeo on John Kirby report today blaming bungled Afghan exit on Trump administration. pic.twitter.com/iOp2ALOo6z
— SweetPeaBelle (@SweetPeaBell326) April 6, 2023
Before Pompeo’s interview, reporter Peter Doocy grilled National Security spokesman John Kirby about the report during a press briefing. Kirby referred to his administration’s report as being about “understanding” and said he was “proud” of the withdrawal multiple times.
To which Doocy said, “People don’t have an issue with the decision to order troops out of Afghanistan. It is with the way that this President ordered it done.”
“There were children being killed. There were people hanging off of Air Force jets that were leaving. And you’re saying that you guys are proud of the way that this mission was conducted? You’re proud of that?”
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Kirby replied glibly, “Proud of the fact that we got more than 124,000 people safely out of Afghanistan? You bet!”
“Proud of the fact that American troops were able to seize control of a defunct airport and get it operational in 48 hours? You bet. Proud of the fact that we now have about 100,000 Afghans, our former allies and partners, living in this country and working towards citizenship? You bet.”
PETER DOOCY ON DISASTER AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: "There were children being killed…there were people hanging off of Air Force jets that were leaving. And you're saying you guys are *proud* of the way that this mission was conducted?"
KIRBY: "You bet!"
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 6, 2023
The National Security Council spokesman then added that while he didn’t feel the withdrawal was “perfect,” there are “a lot of Afghans… now living better lives in this country” and that there is still “a lot to be proud of.”
“Who’s going to get fired?” Doocy shot back.
“The, it’s not, the purpose of it is not accountability,” Kirby stammered. “It’s, the purpose of it is…to study lessons learned.”
During his Fox interview, Pompeo added,
“For Kirby today to say that he’s somehow proud of the way we departed, that this wasn’t an unmitigated disaster … we should just all believe our own eyes.”
On August 26, 2021, 13 U.S. Marines were killed by an ISIS-K suicide bomber during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Over 60 others were injured by the Hamid Karzai International Airport blast—the father of deceased marine Lance Cpl. After meeting President Joe Biden, Jared Schmitz said, “It didn’t go well. He talked a bit more about his own son than he did my son, and that didn’t sit well with me.”
Biden BLAMES Trump for Afghanistan Disaster Under his Watch, Runs to Camp David
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