Trump knocks Biden timetable for Afghanistan withdrawal

Former President Trump called on President Biden on Sunday to have U.S. troops leave Afghanistan before his planned date of Sept. 11, declaring in a statement that the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks should remain a day of mourning.

In a statement, the former president wrote that the U.S. “can and should get out earlier” from Afghanistan and that Sept. 11 “should remain a day of reflection and remembrance honoring those great souls we lost.”

“Getting out of Afghanistan is a wonderful and positive thing to do. I planned to withdraw on May 1st, and we should keep as close to that schedule as possible,” said the former president.

His statement comes in response to the president’s declaration this week that the U.S. would withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, upholding a commitment to end America’s longest war while at the same time breaking a previously agreed-upon deadline set by the Trump administration wherein the U.S. would have pulled out by May 1.

“I believed that our presence in Afghanistan should be focused on the reason we went in the first place: to ensure Afghanistan would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again. We did that. We accomplished that objective,” Biden said during an address Wednesday. “I’ve concluded that it’s time to end America’s longest war. It’s time for American troops to come home.” 

The plan was criticized by some former military leaders who opposed the Trump administration’s plan as well and argued that the U.S. would see Afghanistan fall to the Taliban in a military conflict should combat troops pull out.

America will mark the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan in October.