By: Jake Smith, Daily Caller News Foundation
After taking over Afghanistan three years prior, the Taliban hosted a demonstration on Wednesday at a former U.S. airbase featuring an extensive display of American military equipment.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan almost immediately after the Biden administration withdrew U.S. forces from the region in 2021, in what was widely criticized as a chaotic operation that left 13 troops dead. On the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal, members of the Taliban celebrated at the former U.S. Bagram air base on Wednesday and declared that they had restored “peace and security” to the country, even as the Afghani people continue to suffer under their rule, according to multiple reports.
A video of the demonstration at the base depicted Taliban fighters driving scores of U.S. combat and armored vehicles along an airstrip while helicopters fly by. Photos of the event showed a motorcycle convoy and fighters carrying weapons such as rifles and launchers.
Over $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment, including vehicles, weapons, and logistical and tactical assets, were left behind in Afghanistan when the Biden administration withdrew U.S. forces in 2021. The Bagram base, which served as the essential site for the U.S. troops operating in the region during the 20-year Afghanistan war, cost the U.S. tens of billions of dollars in construction and renovations.
“The Islamic Emirate eliminated internal differences and expanded the scope of unity and cooperation in the country,” Afghanistan Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir said during a speech at the Bagram base on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. “No one will be allowed to interfere in internal affairs, and Afghan soil will not be used against any country.”
An audience of roughly 10,000 men attended the demonstration at the Bagram base, according to the AP. Women were barred from the event.
“It’s been three years since the Taliban marched into Kabul and their abysmal human rights record speaks for itself,” a State Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Taliban need to earn legitimacy. To date, no country has publicly announced that it recognizes the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.”
The Biden administration maintains that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was the correct policy decision, despite warnings at the time that the Taliban would overwhelm U.S.-trained Afghani forces and take control of the country. The withdrawal was seen as abrupt and poorly orchestrated by leadership in Washington, and 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing during evacuation efforts in August 2021.
The Biden administration mostly blamed former President Donald Trump for the frenzied withdrawal in a 2023 National Security Council (NSC) report, citing that the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw U.S. forces by 2021. President Joe Biden had tried to abide by that agreement after becoming president, according to the report, which also admits that the administration should have been better prepared for the evacuation.
The Trump campaign responded to the NSC report in 2023, stating that “Biden and his administration are trying to gaslight the American people for their disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan that directly led to American deaths and emboldened the terrorists.” Trump maintains that had he been president at the time, the withdrawal would have been completed safely and securely.
“I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power,” Trump said during a presidential debate against Biden in June. “He got out, it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”
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