Former Amb to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker: ‘This is not a kinder and gentler Taliban’

Ryan Crocker: People around the world are watching what we do and what we say. They are saying, “Boy, do not partner up with the Americans, do not count on the Americans. They won’t be there in the end and they will blame it all on you.”

OK, they’ve said these pretty things. Let’s see what happens on the ground. Let’s see if they facilitate the evacuation of those who want to get out and not risk their lives under Taliban rule. The Taliban has all the agency here. We gave ours up. We gave it up to them. So, we don’t really decide anything anymore of a security nature. They will decide what they want to do and we will have to react depending on what that is.

Carol, that is just appalling. Back when I was ambassador, once a week over at the international security force compound would be a brief memorial service to commemorate those who had died in the previous week. And, you know, it was a wrenching ceremony that would have always, sadly, some American troopers and a few others from other allies. Their names would be read and then the Afghan military representative would stand up. He didn’t read any names. He gave a number: “123 last week, 165 this week,” and so it went. So, for the president to say that this is on the Afghan security forces who refused to fight, they have been fighting and dying for their country in unbelievable numbers for more than a decade now. So, Mr. President, you use the phrase “the buck stops here.” You tried to put that on the Afghan security forces. No, sir. The buck stops on your desk.

He could have not taken a rush to the exit. Look, when I was in Kabul as ambassador in 2011, 2012, it was the peak of the surge. We were up to almost 100,000 troopers on the ground in Afghanistan. There was violence from the Taliban, but they didn’t hold any provincial capitals. We steadily drew down our numbers, and then President Trump cut further. And what happened? Well, the Taliban still did not hold any provincial capitals. We were at a status quo point that was not great, but it was workable. There are some problems out there that can’t be fixed, they have to be managed, and I would put Afghanistan into that category. We’re not going to transform it into the shining city on the hill. But we could, and did, demonstrate that with a really minimal number of troops that were not directly involved in combat operations, that the Afghans could get by. The only thing that changed was the Biden decision. That is what pulled the plug on all of this. And then the way it was done has given us what we’ve seen, those awful images out of Kabul airport. So, bad policy decision, bad policy execution, he got both.

That, of course, was the beginning of this extended train wreck. Caving into that long-standing Taliban demand meant that these were not, never would be, peace negotiations. They were surrender talks. And I was frankly stunned to see President Biden embrace that policy, embrace the Afghan envoy that President Trump had been using and actually pull the plug. I think of all the body blows the Afghan government and its security forces suffered, we administered the most powerful punches against them.

It was about ensuring America’s security, to ensure that Afghan soil would never again be used to plan strikes into the United States of America itself. And, over a period of almost 20 years, I think we did a pretty good job on it. Now, all of that is at risk because of the president’s decisions. What do I mean? Well, the Taliban is back, there they are, roaming the streets of all 34 provincial capitals, now. This is not a kinder and gentler Taliban. These guys are hardened, tough, ruthless. In other words, they’re the guys that brought us 9/11 by sheltering al-Qaeda, and they’re back. Al-Qaeda will be back with them. So, the president, sadly, has re-created the same environment we had just before 9/11. So, the president has really put the band back together. This particular band, of course, attacked our country.

I would tell him to do what, to give them credit, the administration is actually doing: bringing in aircraft, getting obviously our own folks out, but also getting out those tens of thousands of Afghans who risked their lives to support our efforts. Just get people out. We’re all full of recriminations. We’re all pointing our fingers and everybody else. Yeah, that’s going to go on, that’s part of the process. But right now, it’s about individual lives.

I am. And it is wrenching beyond description, Carol. Like many, many other Americans who served in Afghanistan, we are getting a lot of desperate messages. And it’s just gut-wrenching to to read these text and emails that say, please don’t forget me, the Taliban are here, they’re going to kill me, please get me out. It’s very, very painful.