Jake Sullivan on if He’d Do Anything Differently with Afghanistan: Our Troops Aren’t ‘Sitting Ducks’ Anymore

During an interview with “PBS NewsHour” aired on Monday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responded to a question on if he sees the Afghanistan withdrawal as part of his legacy and if there’s anything he’d do differently in retrospect by saying that “we are able to stand up to and push back against Russian aggression in Ukraine, to keep Kyiv from falling, without having them have sitting ducks of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to go after by, for example, arming up the Taliban. So, I think it is a good thing that the United States is no longer fighting in that war, and I believe that that is an important part of President Biden’s legacy.”

“NewsHour” Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin asked, “Do you think the withdrawal from Afghanistan is part of your legacy? And would you have done anything differently, looking back?”

Sullivan answered, “I believe that ending America’s longest war and not passing it on to yet another president is a significant part of President Biden’s legacy, and, therefore, as someone who works for him, [is] part of my legacy. I would further point out that, to date, despite the warnings, we have not seen a deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland while President Biden was President. In addition, we are able to stand up to and push back against Russian aggression in Ukraine, to keep Kyiv from falling, without having them have sitting ducks of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to go after by, for example, arming up the Taliban. So, I think it is a good thing that the United States is no longer fighting in that war, and I believe that that is an important part of President Biden’s legacy.”

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