According to transcripts, neither leader discussed threat of an imminent Taliban takeover, but Biden had a message: 'Perception' needed to improve
WASHINGTON – Less than four weeks before the fall of Afghanistan, President Joe Biden urged Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani to demonstrate a more capable military defense to change the "perception" as the Taliban made significant gains.that shed new light on Biden's thinking before the Taliban on Aug. 15 abruptly seized control of the Afghan government.
Two weeks before the call, on July 8, Biden told reporters in the U.S. that it was "highly unlikely" the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan.Biden praises Afghanistan evacuation, says withdrawal ends era of using military might to 'remake other countries' In the phone call, Biden advised Ghani to "put a warrior in charge," such as Afghanistan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, to focus on large population centers. He said Ghani should bring together other former and current Afghan leaders to show unity behind the Afghan army's strategy. He said these steps "will change perception, and that will change an awful lot I think.
Biden and Ghani met in person at the White House on June 25. Days before the phone call, the U.S. supported Afghan National Security Forces with airstrikes, a move the Taliban said violated theIn the phone call, Biden committed to provide continued U.S. assistance to the Afghan army if Ghani could demonstrate a plan and told his Afghan counterpart that his army is superior to the Taliban.You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000, and they’re clearly capable of fighting well.
Ghani told Biden that the Afghan army’s military pay hadn’t been increased in a decade adding, “We need to make some gestures to rally everybody together.”
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