US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was coordinated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, and that Washington had moved all its diplomatic operations from Kabul to Doha.
In "loud" video testimony before the House Foreign Relations Committee, he added that the United States expects the Taliban to honor its commitments to rights and freedoms and to guarantee freedom of movement.
He stressed that President Joe Biden inherited an agreement concluded by the administration of his predecessor, Donald Trump, with the Taliban to withdraw forces, and that he was among my choices to "end the war or escalate it."
In response to his accusation of misleading and treason and his demand to resign, Blinken sought to justify the Biden administration's position and decision to withdraw in the manner described as "chaotic."
The minister explained that the Taliban already had a strong military presence in Afghanistan when Biden took office last January, and that the current administration "inherited a deadline" for withdrawing from Afghanistan, but "did not inherit a plan" for that withdrawal.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson during Blinken's testimony (French)
Face two choices
Blinken stressed that "President Biden was faced with the choice of ending the war or escalating it," adding that "if he had not followed through on the commitment of his predecessor, attacks on our forces and our allies would have resumed as well."
There was no evidence that staying longer in Afghanistan would have made the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government more resilient, Blinken argued, and argued that the Americans' stay would have prolonged the war "for another 5, 10, 20 years."
Regarding the difficulties surrounding the evacuation of Americans and their allies, the minister said that the US State Department called for the departure of the country last March, and provided support, including the price of airline tickets.
He pledged to do the best possible to evacuate every US citizen, person holding a US visa, or Afghan asylum seeker at risk.