U.S. President Joe Biden had a 14-minute-call with his Afghanistan counterpart Ashraf Ghani before the Taliban seized control of the country, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
In their call on July 23, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy, and messaging tactics, a transcript reviewed by Reuters shows.
Biden offered aid if Ghani could publicly project he had a plan to control the spiralling situation in Afghanistan.
“We will continue to provide close air support if we know what the plan is,” Biden said.
Moreover, Biden advised Ghani to get buy-in from powerful Afghans for a military strategy going forward, and then to put a “warrior” in charge of the effort, a reference to Defense Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
“You clearly have the best military,” he told Ghani. “You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well.”
Days later, the Afghan military started to lose provincial capitals in the country with the little fight against the Taliban.
In the same call, the U.S. President focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem.
“I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” he said, affirming that there is a need to project a different picture.
He told Ghani that if Afghanistan’s prominent political figures were to give a press conference together, backing a new military strategy, “that will change perception, and that will change an awful lot I think.”
Clearly, the American leader’s words prove that he didn’t anticipate the massive insurrection and collapse to come 23 days later.
“We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives but is sustained and grows."
Taliban Takeover
In a little over two weeks after the two men's call, the Taliban captured several provincial Afghan capitals and the United States said it was up to the Afghan security forces to defend the country.
“These are their military forces, these are their provincial capitals, their people to defend,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on August 9.
Following the Taliban control, tens of thousands of desperate Afghans have fled and 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians were killed in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the frenetic evacuation.
Ashraf Ghani Flees to UAE
After the Taliban entered Kabul, August 15, Ghani fled the presidential palace. Since then, chaos broke out in the county.
Reuters tried to reach Ghani’s staff for this story, incalls and texts but did not succeed.
The last public statement from Ghani, who is believed to be in the United Arab Emirates, came on August 18. He said he fled Afghanistan to prevent bloodshed.
In his phone call with Biden, the Afghan leader assured the latter that “your assurance of support goes a very long way to enable us, to really mobilize us in earnest.”
The White House Responses
Following the published reports about the phone conversation, the White House declined to comment on the call.
Nevertheless, the White House released a statement that focused on Biden’s commitment to supporting Afghan security forces and the administration seeking funds for Afghanistan from Congress.
Ghani told Biden he believed there could be peace if he could “rebalance the military solution.” But he added, “We need to move with speed.”
“We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis, were thrown into this,” Ghani said.
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