“It was always going to be a challenge to end this engagement,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of the U.S. pulling out of Afghanistan when joined WCCO’s Chad Hartman Thursday.
President Joe Biden’s administration planned to pull all troops out of the country after nearly two decades of occupation by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Amid the pull-out, the Taliban – an Islamic group that had control of Afghanistan at the time of the attacks – took over the country with little resistance from the U.S.-backed government.
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As the U.S. now worked to evacuate Americans and allies Thursday, more than 100 people were killed, including at least 13 U.S. service members and 90 Afghans, at the Kabul airport.
Walz is a West Point graduate who spent 24 years in the National Guard and even missed his daughter’s third birthday serving the U.S. However, he told Hartman that the mission in Afghanistan was hardly clear.
“I’ve made no bones about it that I didn’t think there was clear message in any four of those administrations about what our goal was in Afghanistan,” said Walz of the George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald J. Trump and Biden administrations. He said the U.S. made the same mistake in its occupation of Afghanistan that the Russians did previously.
Over the past 20 years, many people may have even forgotten that the U.S. was in Afghanistan unless they knew someone in the military, Walz added.
That “always bothered me,” he said.
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Walz, a Democrat, has supported Biden in the past and he didn’t criticize the president’s approach in Afghanistan with WCCO. Going forward, he thinks clear communication is the way to get out of the country with the least issues.
As the co-chair of the President’s Council of Governors, Walz said Biden should also communicate with his council and the National Guard to keep everyone on the same page.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that an estimated 1,000 could still be evacuated from Afghanistan by the U.S. In Minnestota, Walz said 35 Afghan allies have been welcomed since the evacuations began earlier this month. Another 35 are expected to arrive soon.
Hartman said he thought the governor could have been more critical of the situation in Afghanistan.
Minnesota’s gubernatorial seat is up for reelection next year and Walz, who was elected in 2018, is eligible to seek a second term.
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