Then-president Donald Trump ordered the full and rapid withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan and Somalia shortly after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, a House committee said on Thursday.
The revelation undermines claims from Mr Trump and his Republican Party that they would have better handled the end of the Afghanistan war had they stayed in power.
Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the special panel investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection, said Mr Trump ordered the withdrawals because he knew he had lost the election, despite his claims to the contrary.
Mr Kinzinger said the former president was rushing "to complete his unfinished business".
"President Trump issued an order for large-scale US troop withdrawals," he said.
"He disregarded concerns about the consequences for fragile governments on the front lines of the fight against ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorists.
"Knowing he was leaving office, he acted immediately and signed this order on November 11, [2020] which would have required the immediate withdrawal of troops from Somalia and Afghanistan all to be complete before the Biden inauguration on January 20.“
The committee then played a brief excerpt of an interview with Gen Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“It is odd. It is non-standard. It is potentially dangerous. I personally thought it was militarily not feasible nor wise," Gen Milley said.
Gen Keith Kellogg, who was the national security adviser to then-vice president Mike Pence, said in another excerpt that the immediate departure of troops would have been "catastrophic" and a "debacle", like that which transpired under Mr Biden.
According to the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban, negotiated under Mr Trump, the last US forces were supposed to leave Afghanistan by May 2021.
Mr Biden secured an extension until the end of August, but even then the botched withdrawal was a humiliating end to America's longest war, which put the lives of thousands of Afghans loyal to the West at risk.
As Mr Trump's presidency wound down, he ordered the withdrawal of hundreds of troops who were helping local forces to fight the terrorist group Al Shabab.
Mr Biden later reversed Mr Trump's Somalia order and sent troops back.
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
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The details
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West
Our take: 3/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
