Psaki lists Biden’s overseas victory as ‘leadership, coalition and aucus’ – but does not mention Kabul

Nearly 48 hours after being asked to name President Biden’s biggest foreign policy victory, the press secretary jane saki On Thursday came an answer: restoring American leadership, rebuilding alliances and taking action in the Indo-Pacific.

But the president’s most important decision – ending the American war Afghanistan – No mention, even though Biden himself described the resulting evacuation of Kabul as an ‘extraordinary success’.

His response quickly renewed criticism of an administration that has trumpeted its foreign policy expertise.

“Thanks to Patsy Vidukaswara for a thoughtful question about our biggest foreign policy success this year,” Saki tweeted, referring to the softball question asked on Tuesday.

‘Thinking questions should be answered thoughtfully, so here are the 3 achievements’ [the president] And our team is proud of this year. more to come.

He listed the role of the Biden administration in international institutions and called on world leaders to make progress on the pandemic, climate change and economic recovery; Restoring our alliances, including in Europe, and ending some important trade disputes; and in the Indo-Pacific, developing new platforms such as the AUKUS deal with Australia and the United Kingdom.

Saki used a Twitter thread to trumpet progress as a way of restoring American leadership to the world, rebuilding alliances, and success in the Indo-Pacific.

Too little, too late, according to Brett Bruen, director of global engagement at the Obama White House.

He said the delay was not only a ‘missed opportunity’ but it also exposed the lack of confidence in the achievements of the administration.

“And if, for example, we believe that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was as successful as they led us to believe and was as historically significant as they argued,” he continued, “why not make it a be placed as a significant achievement.

The hasty withdrawal of American troops is casting a shadow on the administration.

Some 13 service personnel died in the final days of the evacuation when an ISIS suicide bomber detonated explosives at Kabul airport, and chaotic scenes of refugees falling from departing planes provided the defining image of departure.

Yet Biden has given up on venturing out, as the Taliban seized control and capital of the country as a victory 20 years after the US invasion.

Declaring the end of America’s 20-year war in the country, he said, “The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States Army and our diplomats and intelligence professionals.”

But allies such as the UK have said they feel blinded by a hasty exit and fear rivals such as Russia and China may feel a weakness in Washington.

Missing from Saki’s answer was any mention of an exit from Afghanistan, which will be remembered for the Afghans’ desperate scramble to find security on the departing planes.

Biden says evacuation was an ‘extraordinary success’ despite images of chaos

Saki was asked what lessons Vidukaswara, a Voice of America reporter, had learned in Afghanistan with a gentle softball on Tuesday.

What does the administration consider your biggest foreign policy achievement in this first year? And also what lessons have you learned from Afghanistan’s biggest failure,’ he asked.

Saki replied: ‘You know, that’s a good question.

‘I want to be thoughtful about it. I want to talk to the President about this.

‘And I’m happy to do so.’

The result was surprising among some foreign policy experts, and was openly ridiculed by Biden’s opponents for being unable to explicitly list his successes.

Sean Spicer, who played Saki under President Trump, tweeted: ‘If you can’t name anyone you have a problem.’