Thread by @WalidPhares

Dear @SecDef #Austin, the Afghan Government "collapsed" because the US Administration cut a deal with the Taliban, not because of Taliban attacks which they countered for 19 years.

The Taliban made advances because they had a deal with the Adm that they will be the next power.

Dear General #Milley, the best way not to "Americanize" any war is not to cut deals with the enemy, the Taliban in the case of Afghanistan.

As simple as that.

Can Congress ask the secretary of defense, the joint chiefs, and @CENTCOM commander, what is the plan they established with the #Taliban in #Doha, to transfer #Afghanistan to them?

Was there a joint plan? If yes, what was it. If not, how would a transition take place?

Trump made a deal? Yes of course. And true also Obama started the engagement with the Taliban via Qatar years ago. But it is the #Biden Adm that executed, oversaw and managed the #TalibanDeal. Biden could have stopped the Obama and Trump bureaucracies deals and restructured them.

A Trump deal didn't include an exclusive US transfer of power to the Taliban, excluding the elected Afghan Gov. The Biden deal changed the previous deal & agreed on coordinating with the Taliban the takeover of the country. They negotiated with them since February, another deal.

I was even opposed to the #PompeoDeal, and made it public. The option I supported was an empowerment of the Afghan people and army and the disarming of the Taliban. Unfortunately the Obama bureaucracy blocked a war of ideas resulting in empowering the Afghan people.

"US withdrawal from #Afghanistan long overdue?" Of course. The pull out could have taken place as of 2012 had the 2008 Congress & the Obama Adm (2009-2016) not canceled the war of ideas.

Canceling the fight against the enemy's ideology, cancels any victory in the war of Ideas.

Why we lost the war in Afghanistan? Bec despite clear wins by the US military, parts of the bureaucracies under 4 Adms killed the counter-ideological efforts to delegitimize the Taliban.

The #Ikhwan lobbies won the influence wars in Washington DC. They produced the #TalibanDeal.

The #Obama Adm wanted a full partnership with the Islamists since the #CairoSpeech in 2009: Dangerous.

The #Trump Adm was convinced by its bureaucracy that the #Taliban will disarm & stick by their deal: Mistake

The #Biden Adm actually partnered with the Taliban: Catastrophic.

Why won't the lawmakers review the 100s of hearings held for 20 years, 1000s of seminars, conferences, assessments, by the US military, intel, which have all concluded, that the war in Afghanistan couldn't be won other than in a decisive win in a war of ideas. That's the problem.

Any #ClassifiedInformation has an end. And that is when reality on the ground shows that what was decided, has actually failed. no matter what these information were or are.

As Congress is investigating the #AfghanistanDisaster. what does statements "learning from the past, going forward" mean?

What did the US Defense leadership learn from the collapse in Afghanistan & what does "going forward" mean?

That the Taliban are and will be our partners?

The #Biden Adm argues that "had we not left Afghanistan on the #TalibanDeal date, the Taliban would have attacked us"!

Really? That's the exact evidence that the #Taliban have never ended their war: "Leave on our terms or it's war🤨"

What is that slogan other than a surrender?

"#AlQaeda has aspirations to fight against us?"

Really, that's what the mighty bureaucracy of the US is able to conclude? After 30 years of war? 🙄

What is "going forward.?"

It could be anything based on what we saw with the #Taliban.

It could be "working with the Taliban."
"Partnering with them"
"Normalizing them."
"Send them aid"
"Invite their officers to our schools"

Going forward is more dangerous of "what happened."

Our European partners are not evaluating our partnership based on "how we helped them to exit Afghanistan," but on how we allowed the Taliban to takeover #Afghanistan.

The Obama Adm withdrew from Iraq without empowering our allies, the US had to come back.

The Biden Adm withdrew from Afghanistan without empowering our allies, the US will have to come back.

We can't play with history...

The #PompeoDeal in #Doha accepted a #Taliban return to power in Kabul, via a unity cabinet with the current Gov..(and I wouldn't have even trusted the Taliban with that anyway).

The #Obama-#Biden "deal" accepted to "partner" with the Taliban, and watched the elected Gov toppled.

If the #Trump Adm didn't offer any withdrawal plan to the #Biden Adm according to the latter's cabinet members testimonies at the hearings, then who designed the #AfghanistanDisaster's withdrawal plan?

Why would the current Adm even abide by a deadline set by the previous Adm?

The #Biden Adm argues that had they not withdrawn according to Taliban demands, the latter would have waged a military campaign.

So what? The #Taliban have been attacking since 2002 with no results, why would we give them #Afghanistan in 1 week? It doesn't add up.

Unless..🤨

The #Biden Adm blames the #Trump Adm for signing a "bad deal."

And what do they do?

They cut a much worse deal and EXECUTE it! 😠