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Known for his hawkish views on foreign policy, McMaster portrayed Thursday’s attacks as a vindication for his sharp criticisms of Biden’s decision to pull out the troops by Aug. 31, as well as what he has called former President Donald Trump’s “surrender agreement” with the Taliban in February 2020, which paved the way for the U.S. withdrawal.
McMaster said he was not speaking as a partisan and that there was plenty of blame to go around among multiple U.S. presidents. But he was especially withering in his assessment of how Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conducted their negotiations with the Taliban. The president and secretary in effect decided, McMaster said, “Hey, we’re going to sit down with the Taliban and essentially negotiate our withdrawal. Afghan government, stay on the sidelines. What did that do for the legitimacy of the Afghan government? ... Then what did we do? We forced them to release 5,000 prisoners — for nothing.”