On the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor Shawn Ryan told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he believes the Biden-Harris administration has learned nothing from the operation.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was widely considered a disastrous operation that ended in the death of 13 servicemembers in August 2021. Ryan, a veteran of multiple combat operations and now the host of the Shawn Ryan Show, told the DCNF that the Biden administration is continuing to take a misguided approach to Afghanistan, which he warned is once again becoming an epicenter for terrorism that could pose a threat to the West in the future.
“I personally don’t think any lessons have been learned. It obviously worked to sweep it under the rug and try to get it out of the media, which they did a really good job of, especially when it first happened,” Ryan, who recently interviewed former President Donald Trump, told the DCNF. “Yes, Trump did negotiate [the withdrawal] with the Taliban in 2020. But there were very strict guidelines laid out in that agreement, and none of those guidelines were followed.”
“I think that had Trump done it, I’m sure he would have followed the calculated plan that he and his cabinet came up with. But unfortunately, all the Biden administration did was give the word to pull out. There was nothing strategic about how it went down,” Ryan said.
Friday marks the anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal. May we never forget the tragic moments and the disastrous handling of the evacuation, including leaving billions of dollars’ worth of equipment in the hands of our enemies. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/uMtIkXwrti
— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyan762) August 27, 2024
Though the withdrawal process had a set deadline for mid-2021 — as agreed to by the Trump administration in 2020 — the actual operation was carried out chaotically and abruptly as a result of subpar planning and a lack of leadership, according to State Department and House Foreign Affairs Committee after action reports. No one in the Biden administration was fired or resigned over the withdrawal.
Over $7 billion worth of military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan, all readily accessible to the Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan immediately after the withdrawal and imposed an authoritarian rule over the Afghan people. Ryan noted that tens of millions of dollars in U.S. assistance are being sent to Afghanistan every week, despite the high risk that it could be diverted or seized by the Taliban; Afghanistan has received almost $3 billion in U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance since the 2021 withdrawal.
The Taliban celebrated the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan with an extensive demonstration of left-behind military equipment at a massive former American airbase on Aug. 14. As the de facto rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban has allowed several terrorist groups such as Al Queda to resurge and operate inside the country.
The Taliban held a military parade with equipment the US left behind:pic.twitter.com/hW4MnDz3dP
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 14, 2024
The threat now rapidly emanating out of Afghanistan should be a U.S. national security concern, Ryan told the DCNF.
“I definitely don’t think that threat is being dealt with appropriately. The terrorism threat from the Taliban and what’s going on inside of Afghanistan should be a top priority. I think it’s right up there with the Fentanyl crisis. It’s up there with some of the things that we’re dealing with in terms of China,” Ryan said. “We had pretty much cleaned terrorism out of the region, and now it’s sprung back up, as if we were never there.”
Biden has said that the “buck stops with [him]” regarding the withdrawal — although he continues to defend the operation as a success — but Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in the operation has recently circulated in the media, given that she is now the Democratic nominee for president. Harris advised Biden during the planning process and confirmed she was the “last person in the room” when asked by a CNN reporter in early 2021.
Like everyone else involved, Harris shares responsibility for the disastrous operation, Ryan told the DCNF.
“If she had anything to do with the planning, then she’s at fault, and she is supposedly his top adviser, correct? So I’d say that blame certainly falls on her,” Ryan said. “More broadly, actually, it probably falls on her more than him, because he’s completely incompetent in running the country, which means she should have been pulling some strings from behind the scenes.”
3 Years After US Withdrawal, Afghanistan Looks As Bad As It Did Pre-Warhttps://t.co/A1tvWnpuIx
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 11, 2024
Ryan also appeared skeptical that Harris had chosen a competent running mate in Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, given that he has come under fire for seemingly exaggerating his military service at various points during his time in public office. The Harris campaign maintains that Walz has “misspoke” on one occasion but never meant to embellish his record.
Ryan, a veteran who served in multiple combat operations over more than a decade, told the DCNF he was skeptical of that claim.
“I think it’s a shame that somebody that reached that high of a rank is not comfortable with their service and feels the need to over-embellish, or maybe even lie, about what they’ve done in service. He should just be proud of what he actually did, if anything at all,” Ryan said. “I’ve seen a lot of people exaggerate and lie about their careers in the military, about what they saw and what they did. When it comes to service, the truth always comes out. Nobody’s going to allow somebody to get away with lies.”
Turning to the election, Ryan told the DCNF that whoever the next commander-in-chief will be tasked with conducting national security and foreign policy at a time when global tensions are at a pivotal juncture, pointing to ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East and the U.S. rivalry with a rapidly growing China. Addressing the southern border and immigration crisis — arguably the U.S.’ most direct foreign concern — is an urgent task, he said.
“I think we’re in for a bumpy ride, no matter who wins,” Ryan told the DCNF. “But I do think if Trump wins, and some of these policies that he’s talking about start to take effect… I think we’ll start to see things turn around very quickly as these policies take effect.”
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