Letters to the Editor: Is Biden unfairly blaming Trump for the Afghanistan disaster?

To the editor: The Biden administration has truly embraced former President Obama’s habit of blaming everything on his predecessor. Obama did it for at least six years, and President Biden is doing it now too. (“Biden review of chaotic Afghan withdrawal blames Trump,” April 6)

The Biden administration is totally responsible for the Afghanistan fiasco. Former President Trump’s withdrawal plan was conditioned. He has said he would have kept billions of dollars of military equipment and the very strategic Bagram Airfield in U.S. hands.

Biden’s withdrawal was not a withdrawal; it was a disorganized rout, a disorderly retreat.

Nathan Post, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Thanks to The Times for covering the cause of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, especially for readers who have missed the New Yorker’s reporting on the Trump administration negotiations that caused the crisis.

Basically, Trump secretly surrendered to the Taliban if they didn’t kill any more American soldiers. His administration also pledged to remove all troops by May 1, 2021, and it pressed for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners in pursuit of the deal.

Furthermore, Trump’s unprecedented refusal to accept a peaceful transition after he lost the 2020 election severely limited his administration in updating Biden’s incoming team, contrary to how Obama treated the incoming Trump team in 2016 and 2017.

The Trump administration’s secret negotiations with the Taliban left Biden holding the bag.

Marcy Bregman, Agoura Hills