In debate with VP Harris, Trump raises ‘chaotic’ US pullout from Afghanistan abandoning modern arms

New York: Former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris engaged in a fiery debate, bashing each other’s policies in their first presidential debate, with Trump highlighting Biden administration’s 2021 chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving behind huge amount of military equipment that benefitted the Taliban.

The debate, which was carried live, was held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Hosted by ABC-News just 56 days before the election , it was also notable as the maiden clash between the candidates since President Joe Biden exited the race weeks after his botched debate performance in late June.

The exchange took place one day before the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and several days after the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Ms. Harris seemed to control the over 90-minute conversation at times, baiting Trump with jabs at his economic policy, his refusal to concede his 2020 election loss and even his performance at his rallies.

Trump, while measured early on, grew more annoyed as the night went on. And one significant moment played out after the two candidates left the stage, when megastar Taylor Swift said she’ll vote for Ms. Harris.

The former president, who raised Afghanistan several times during the debate, called the withdrawal “the most embarrassing moment in the history of the United States”, saying the projection of U.S. weakness in Afghanistan was the reason Russian president Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine several months later.

On her part, VP Harris defended Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan and said the withdrawal was a result of the Trump administration’s failed policy.

“You invited the Taliban to Camp David,” Harris told Trump, referring to the former president’s plan to meet with the group’s leaders in 2019. But the invitation to the Taliban was cancelled as they did not implement the steps agreed by them to pave the way for US pullout.

“I agreed with President Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan,” Ms. Harris said. “Four (former US) presidents said they would and Joe Biden did and as a result, America’s taxpayers are not paying the $300 million a day we were paying for that endless war, and as of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world the first time this century.”

Trump responded that his administration negotiated the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the Biden administration blundered the execution.

“We were getting out. We would have been out faster than that, but we wouldn’t have lost the soldiers. We wouldn’t have left many Americans behind, and we wouldn’t have left … $85 billion worth of brand new, beautiful military equipment behind,” Trump said.

“And just to finish, they blew it,” the former president added.

The United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan has become one of the foreign-policy flashpoint in this year’s presidential election.

In her remarks, Ms. Harris also blamed Trump’s handling of U.S.-Afghan relations, causing the problems that the Biden-Harris administration inherited.

“Donald Trump, when he was president, negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine. He calls himself a deal-maker. Even his national security adviser said it was a weak, terrible deal.”

Ms. Harris slammed Trump for negotiating directly with the Taliban instead of the Afghan government.

“The negotiation involved the Taliban getting 5,000 terrorist Taliban terrorists released, and get this — no, get this — and the president at the time invited the Taliban to Camp David, a place of storied significance for us as Americans, a place where we honour the importance of American diplomacy, where we invite and receive respected world leaders, and this former president, as president, invited them because he does not again appreciate the role and responsibility of the president of the United States to be commander-in-chief with a level of respect,” Ms. Harris said.

Neither contenders of America’s top job presented a plan for ending the Israeli war in Gaza that has left 41,000 Palestinians dead, mostly women and children, and thousands wounded.

Asked how he would negotiate to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages, Trump reiterated his previous statements that the wars in Gaza and Ukraine would have never started if he was president.

Ms. Harris, in response, said she had always defended Israel and that Tel Aviv has a right to defend itself, including against threats from Iran and its proxies.

“It is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately. And the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out. We will continue to work around the clock on that,” she said.

Outside the Hall, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors rallied to draw attention to the human suffering taking place in besieged Gaza.

A phalanx of police officers stared down protesters, some pushing and shoving as protesters shouted, calling them “fascists” and even tossing water bottles at them.

The group had plans to march as close to the Constitution Center as they could get, given the tight security perimeter there. Those protesting appeared opposed to both presidential frontrunners’ support for Israel and general stance on the war.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding Policy Project, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group, dismissed VP Harris’ comment as lip service.

“Vice President Harris, you can’t talk about achieving a ceasefire — much less Palestinian freedom — while the US is providing billions of dollars in weapons to support Israel’s genocide,” the group wrote.

The group also suggested Ms. Harris applied a different standard to Ukraine than to Palestine.

“VP Harris is right to condemn Russia for taking Ukrainian territory by force — a violation of international law. Where is her condemnation of Israel taking Palestinian territory by force?”

Another political action group, representing the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, also called out Ms. Harris’s comments as hollow.

“Harris cannot turn the page and be a new generation of leadership if she continues to hold onto the policies that deny Palestinian rights and arms Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people,” they wrote.