According to a transcript reviewed by Reuters, during the last call between US President Joe Biden and his Afghan counterpart before the Taliban taken control of the country, the leaders talked military aid, political strategy, and messaging tactics, but neither Biden nor Ashraf Ghani appeared to be aware of or prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to insurgents.
On July 23, the two guys chatted for around 14 minutes. Ghani departed the presidential residence on August 15, and the Taliban stormed Kabul. Thousands of Afghans have left since then, and 13 US servicemen and dozens of Afghan civilians were murdered in a suicide attack at Kabul airport during the hasty US military withdrawal.
To verify the discussion, Reuters reviewed a transcript of the presidential phone call and listened to the audio. A source who was not authorized to disseminate the documents gave the materials on the condition of anonymity.
Biden promised assistance if Ghani could publicly project that he had a plan to calm the spiraling situation in Afghanistan during the call.
“We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,” Biden said.
The US had conducted air attacks to help Afghan security forces just days before the call, which the Taliban said was in breach of the Doha peace accord.
Ghani was also instructed by US President Barack Obama to gain buy-in from prominent Afghans for a future military plan, and then to choose a "fighter" to lead the endeavor, a reference to defense minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
Biden lauded the Afghan armed forces, which were trained and funded by the US government. “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 folding across provincial capitals in the country with the little fight against the Taliban.
In much of the call, Biden 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,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”
Biden 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.”
The American leader’s words indicated 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,” said Biden.
