- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Trump hits Harris on US Afghan withdrawal 'calamity'
Donald Trump on Monday tied Vice President Kamala Harris to the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan as he paid tribute to 13 troops killed in a suicide attack on the third anniversary of their deaths.
It was Trump who, as president in 2020, struck a deal with the Taliban for the United States to withdraw from the country.
But it was President Joe Biden who, after delaying it by a few months, finally implemented the retreat in 2021, one of the administration's lowest points.
Trump regularly slams Biden over it, but has pivoted to blaming Harris for White House policy decisions since she replaced the 81-year-old Democrat as his rival for the White House.
In Detroit to address the National Guard Association of the United States, the Republican ex-president, 78, argued that the "humiliation" of the withdrawal destroyed US credibility and was "caused by Kamala Harris (and) Joe Biden."
"Now, the voters are going to fire Kamala and Joe on November 5, we hope, and when I take office... I will get the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity to be on my desk at noon on inauguration day," he said.
Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed days ahead of the planned withdrawal date and its leaders fled into exile.
A suicide bomb attack killed 13 US troops and 170 Afghans on August 26 at the crowded perimeter of Kabul's international airport, where an unprecedented military airlift operation got more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.
Before US troops were able to secure the whole airport, the world witnessed tragic scenes of panicked Afghan civilians mobbing airliners and even falling to their deaths as they attempted to cling onto departing planes.
- Trump's Taliban deal -
Ahead of Trump's speech, his campaign pointed to previous Harris statements that she was the last person in the room before Biden made the call to withdraw from Afghanistan.
"By her own admission, Kamala Harris was a key player in the disastrous withdrawal," it said in statement.
"She bragged about being the last person in the room for the fateful decision, was 'front and center' for the security briefings, and even laughed as a reporter asked her about the American citizens still trapped in Afghanistan."
The White House released a classified review of the withdrawal in April last year, acknowledging intelligence failures but blaming Trump for creating the conditions leading to the rout.
In a declassified summary, the administration said the February 2020 deal between Trump and the Taliban had placed the incoming Biden government in an impossible position by agreeing a date for withdrawal, but providing no plan for executing it.
Harris released a statement offering prayers for "13 devoted patriots" and the loved ones they left behind. "My heart breaks for their pain and their loss," she said.
Earlier Monday, Trump took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia for the slain service members.
The former president has been hammered repeatedly over inflammatory public comments and alleged private remarks about veterans.
Earlier this month he said the country's top civilian award was "much better" than the elite military honor, because the service members who receive their medal are "in very bad shape" or "dead."
J.Williams--AMWN