Dem congresswoman: Biden administration doesn't deserve 'any blame' for chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal https://ift.tt/GZPhDmK

President Biden's administration doesn't deserve any blame for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said.

Lee made the statement during a Sunday appearance on CNN, telling host Jake Tapper that the blame largely rests with former President Donald Trump.

"I know you supported the goal of leaving Afghanistan, but do you believe President Biden deserves some blame for the way that that withdrawal spiraled out of control?" Tapper asked.

"I don't believe the administration deserves any blame for this," Lee responded. "We have to remember that Donald Trump made this agreement with the Taliban."

DEMOCRATIC DARLINGS SCHIFF AND PORTER KICK OFF AN UGLY, EXPENSIVE FIGHT FOR CALIFORNIA'S SENATE SEAT

"Secondly, the Trump administration literally gutted our State Department and our diplomatic corps," Lee continued. "I believe that the State Department and those that were involved in this, you know, end of the Afghanistan war – which should have happened before then, I believe – did the best they could. Having said that, it wasn't as smooth as we would have liked to have seen it."

REP. BARBARA LEE LAUNCHES SENATE CAMPAIGN PROMISING TO ‘TAKE ON CLIMATE CRISIS’ AND STOP ‘MAGA EXTREMISTS’

Lee's comments come more than a week after the State Department published a formal evaluation of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

The report found that both Trump and Biden had "insufficient senior-level consideration" of what could go wrong during a withdrawal. The State Department conducted more than 150 interviews over a 90-day period to compile the report, which it released to the public June 30.

"The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security," the report stated. "Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the AAR team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow."

The U.S. withdrawal saw Afghan government forces collapse almost immediately against the Taliban, and 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing while defending the evacuation at the Kabul airport.

FAA approves the first fully automated commercial drone flights, letting Massachusetts-based American Robotics operate its drones in rural areas below 400 feet (Wall Street Journal) https://ift.tt/3oQGbvc

Wall Street Journal : FAA approves the first fully automated commercial drone flights, letting Massachusetts-based American Robotics operate its drones in rural areas below 400 feet — American Robotics granted permission to operate drones without hands-on piloting — U.S. aviation regulators have approved …

Brazil says Huawei won't be a supplier on its upcoming 5G and private federal network bid, but is not barred from operating elsewhere in the country (Angelica Mari/ZDNet) https://ift.tt/3qIP4r5

Angelica Mari / ZDNet : Brazil says Huawei won't be a supplier on its upcoming 5G and private federal network bid, but is not barred from operating elsewhere in the country — The Chinese firm is not considered to be apt to supply equipment to the government's own set-up, to be built by the winners of the upcoming 5G auction.

Fujitsu eyes 20 potential M&A targets as part of a five-year $5.8B plan aiming to strengthen its digital services and capitalize on US-China trade disputes (Kana Inagaki/Financial Times) https://ift.tt/3htYmnJ

Kana Inagaki / Financial Times : Fujitsu eyes 20 potential M&A targets as part of a five-year $5.8B plan aiming to strengthen its digital services and capitalize on US-China trade disputes — Shortlist is part of investment push to hasten group's pivot to digital services — Fujitsu has drawn up a shortlist …

newsnation

Search This Blog