WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Joe Biden had an opportunity to negotiate a better-planned withdrawal with the Taliban prior to the Kabul bombing that claimed 13 American lives but did not according to State Department Spokesman Ned Price.
When asked if the administration even asked the Taliban to renegotiate a timeline, Price refused to answer the question. Instead, Biden stuck to his timeline of August 31, come hell or high water…and as we now know, both came.
“The president came to that decision knowing what the consequences would be, yeah how did you know the consequences would be,” Price said before being cut off.
“How would you know what the consequences would have been if someone else didn’t actually raise it with the Taliban?” a reporter asked.
“The Taliban made it very clear to us that if the U.S. would seek to renegotiate on the agreement, they would not continue to abide by the commitment they made,” Price said. “We were confident that if our troops remained past that deadline they would be target to violence.”