John Bolton, the former national security adviser, said the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is a big mistake — and there’s no difference between the policies of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Bolton called the abrupt pullout a “strategic mistake” for which both leaders share the blame.
“Trump fully supported (withdrawing),” Bolton told CNN. “Had he been reelected he would have done the same thing.”
“On this question of withdrawal from Afghanistan, Trump and Biden are like Tweedledee and Tweedledum,” he added.
Bolton said Biden bears “primary responsibility” for letting the withdrawal spin out of control even though it was Trump’s agreement to withdraw U.S. forces that put the wind behind the Taliban’s sails.
“It’s been a catastrophe and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse,” Bolton said.
Bolton has long been one of the strongest advocates of a forceful American military presence overseas and was a key architect of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He was ousted by Trump in large part over their sharp disagreements about Trump’s insistence that the U.S. should end the “forever war” in Afghanistan.
Even though Bolton admitted “miscalculations” by successive administrations, he staunchly refused to admit that 20 years was too long for the U.S. to be essentially propping up the Afghan government.
He said an ongoing American presence in Afghanistan is needed as an “insurance policy” to prevent the resurgence of terror groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS.
“The American people understand a long overseas presence can be in our national interest if their leaders step up to it,” Bolton asserted.
