CNN’s Christiane Amanpour questioned White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on whether the United States is “prepared” for what the consequences could be of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden recently announced the U.S. is withdrawing forces from Afghanistan by September 11th of this year. The decision has received both praise and criticism, and a number of reports have said top military officials raised concerns before the president made the final call.
Sullivan said on Wednesday, “Ultimately, we could not make the United States military, U.S. troops bargaining chips in negotiation among warring parties in another country.”
Amanpour brought up critical comments from Senator Mitt Romney, who said the withdrawal would “have serious consequences for our national security interests.”
She asked Sullivan directly about exactly what the Biden administration is bracing for:
“I just want to know from your gut, are you prepared — maybe in a year, maybe in two years — to see Kabul fall? Are you prepared for the elected government in Afghanistan to be overtaken by the current military success on the battlefield that the Taliban is having? And are you prepared to see the rights of women again trampled on? I mean, maybe you are. It’s a legitimate question though.”
Sullivan responded by saying they’ve been looking at “all of the potential scenarios that could unfold in Afghanistan” and that they “haven’t whitewashed this process.
“At the end of the day, the United States needs to make its determinations based on a fundamental question: what is going to advance the national security interests of the United States and the American people?” he added.
You can watch above, via CNN International.