Reporters Grill Psaki Over Shocking Claim That Biden Ignored...
Biden made this claim earlier this year about how the buck stops with him, and it should since he is the leader. But he doesn't practice what he preaches here, as he will usually blame others even when he is trying to take the heat. But this is definitely a situation where Biden should clear up why he made the decisions he made. During a Press Briefing, reporters asked Psaki why Biden didn't listen to his advisors when it comes to Afghanistan. Psaki's did what she does best and gave Biden cover. But these questions should be answered.
Q I’d like to ask you a little bit more about the — some of what’s detailed in the upcoming book of Woodward and Costa, specifically in the area of the President taking or not taking the advice of Secretaries Austin and Blinken.
We’ve seen the President defend his decision to exit Afghanistan in the way that he did. But as the public, they see this and read this and say, “top, close officials suggested a slower path out.” The public watched what happened with some of the chaotic things. What should we take from that in terms of how the President processes the information his advisors are giving? And does he have any second thoughts about not taking the gated, slower approach that’s described?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think that people should take — one, let me first say: I’m not going to confirm or substantiate anonymous unconfirmed reports in a book.
But I think you’re asking an important question, which is: How does the President take a range of advice from different people? And sometimes it’s conflicting with each other as well, of course.
Watch Second Clip Below.
PSAKI on Woodward/Costa revelations about advice Biden received on Afghanistan withdrawal:
"It was not 'the status quo' or 'withdraw'. It was 'withdraw' or 'increase troops'. And that's how [Biden] saw the decision." pic.twitter.com/Cj3i1LuJvx
— Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) September 16, 2021
Clip 1
Q: The President told ABC back in August that none of his advisors recommended leaving 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. General Miller told the Senate Armed Services Committee that that was exactly what he recommended. Was the President’s answer in that interview an honest answer?
MS. PSAKI: First of all, I’m not going to get into details of private advice that the President gets from his national security team or military advisors.
What is clear is that the President asked for — welcomed — candid, non-sugar coated advice on Afghanistan and what we should do, given what we walked into, which was a deal struck with the Taliban with a May 1st timeline, including the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters, where we would need to get our U.S. forces out, otherwise we would face conflict. That’s what he was facing.
In terms of the mechanisms of who provided what advice through what forum, I’m just not going to get into that level of detail from here.
Clip 2
Q But did the President hear, specifically, the recommendation from the commander on the ground in Afghanistan that he feared that a full withdrawal would be devastating and should not happen?
MS. PSAKI: He was provided a range of advice. I’m not going to get into more details than that. But what’s important to note, at this point, is it’s crystal clear that 2,500 troops would not have been sustainable on the ground; it would have been either increase troops on the ground or withdraw troops on the ground. And the President has been clear many times, he was not going to send thousands and thousands more troops to fight a war the Afghans did not want to fight themselves.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "Did the President adhere to the recommendation from the commander on the ground be Afghanistan that he feared that a full withdrawal would be devastating and should not happen?"
Psaki: "He was provided a range of advice." pic.twitter.com/dFxwGJUPlR
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 16, 2021
The Biden Admin is constantly claiming oh it was a bad deal that we came into. But the deal had conditions and we didn't hold the Taliban to it. And it may be hindsight but Biden should have ramped up troops and told the Taliban that they would only leave once all of the American civilians were evacuated. It's that simple. We could have easily handled this situation better. I don't know who advised Biden otherwise but he should stop listening to them.