Biden did what Trump set out to do in Afghanistan: professor
With regard to Afghanistan, the globe is witnessing a consensus between current U.S. President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, an American professor says.
“Biden did what Trump set out to do in Afghanistan, but Trump is dishonest on this,” Professor Robert Y. Shapiro tells the Tehran Times.
Trump called on his successor Biden to reconsider its decisions after the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban ceased control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul.
Trump, in a statement on Sunday, said that it was time for Biden to resign for what he has allowed happening in Afghanistan.
“The public has supported getting out of Afghanistan but is not happy with how the U.S. withdrawal took place.” His statement comes after the Afghanistan government collapsed with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban's entry into the capital.
However, many political observers say that withdrawing from Afghanistan was planned by Trump’s administration and Biden is following the same policy.
Although Republicans have attacked Biden’s move when it comes to Afghanistan, it was a public demand that is critical of America’s endless war.
“The public has supported getting out of Afghanistan but is not happy with how the U.S. withdrawal took place, making the U.S. look incapable and weak,” the American academic says.
Maybe a part of the Afghanistan crisis is due to the U.S. refusal to collaborate with its rivals including Iran and China, especially the Republicans who have a deep-rooted animosity towards Iran.
Due to its historical and cultural ties with Afghanistan and the privilege of being a neighboring country, Iran is considered among regional players that can play a significant role in Afghanistan.
But over the last two decades, Washington preferred to deprive itself of the advantages of cooperation with regional players to stabilize Afghanistan.
“The Republicans more so than the Democrats are not inclined toward multilateralism. We will now see how Biden proceeds going forward given the new opportunities toward multilateralism,” according to Shapiro.
On the other hand, the region is expected to witness a more active role by China and Russia now that the U.S. has abandoned Afghanistan.
Asked about Russia and China’s efforts to fill the power vacuum in Afghanistan, the American professor notes, “They will try to do this and we will see.”
However, Shapiro expects U.S. forces to come back to Afghanistan in case of deterioration of the situation or catastrophic results for its exit.
“The U.S. will strike back if attacked by terrorists based in Afghanistan and this will pose problems for the Taliban who had promised this would not happen.”