What China really wants is the annexation of Taiwan by invitation, and they want to do that through intimidation in a sustained campaign of political subversion against the Taiwanese people to affect their will. After the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, the message in Chinese state-controlled media to Taiwan was, “Hey, do you really think the United States has your back?” We are exuding weakness at this moment, and China thinks they can probably get away with intimidating Taiwan. McMASTER: I think it’s connected to Afghanistan. What Veterans Day means to me and my family (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Samuel Corum/Getty Images It was designed by Maya Lin and was completed in 1982. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall contains 58,320 names of those who gave their lives during the conflict in Vietnam. Veterans Day is when Americans honor those who served the country in the Armed Forces. WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 11: A flower and two American flags are left at the base of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Veterans Day on Novemin Washington, DC. Is this just the Chinese doing what they always do and is nothing particularly new, or is this something different? McMASTER: This is what happens when you surrender to terrorists: The terrorists are in charge.īERGEN: Switching gears, it seems the Taiwan situation is heating up. And then we watched the Taliban’s elite unit, Badri-313, take over the Kabul airport, which is a Haqqani force.īERGEN: On Siraj Haqqani, what’s your reaction? The United Nations has identified him as part of the leadership council of al-Qaeda, and now he’s the acting Afghan minister of the interior. The Biden State Department said the Haqqanis were separate from the Taliban. McMASTER: I’m talking about the Biden administration, especially toward the end. All of us knew it, but you kept hearing the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the secretary of state, the President describing an enemy that didn’t exist in Afghanistan, and then surrender to terrorists.īERGEN: Are you talking about Trump or Biden or both? We created the enemy we would prefer in Afghanistan: A Taliban that would be more benign, a Taliban that was separate from other jihadist terrorist groups, and that was a complete pipedream. So, I would say three administrations share responsibility for what I would call the “surrender” to a terrorist organization. Then President Biden could have reversed those horrible decisions and that fundamentally flawed approach to the war, and he didn’t. They must stop himĪnd then the Trump administration for doubling down on those same flaws, not understanding the nature of the enemy, and again, giving a timeline for a withdrawal, making concession after concession, and then thinking you’re going to get a favorable agreement. Trump could use the courts to run out the clock. And I would put a lot of responsibility on the Obama administration, especially in connection with announcing in 2009 the timeline for our withdrawal from Afghanistan and then trying to negotiate with a terrorist organization, the Taliban, and that was delusional. McMASTER: Well, I think there’s responsibility across multiple administrations. While a major, McMaster earned his PhD, which became the book “ Dereliction of Duty.” The book caused something of a sensation in the US military when it was published, as it took the top Pentagon generals to task for failing to provide substantive military advice to President Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War.įollowing is our discussion, which was edited for clarity and flow.īERGEN: You’ve described the Taliban peace agreement with the United States that was signed by the Trump administration in 2020 and implemented by the Biden administration this year as a “surrender agreement.” Who’s responsible for this surrender? Then, as a colonel in the Iraq War in 2005, he led the first major victory against Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the city of Tal Afar. McMaster was awarded the Silver Star for valor. As an Army captain, he led a tank battle that destroyed 28 Iraqi tanks, 16 personnel carriers and more than 30 trucks in under half an hour. Michael Flynn was pushed out for providing “incomplete information” to then-Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.Īn active duty three-star general, McMaster had served heroically in the first Gulf War. Trump asked McMaster to serve as his national security adviser after Lt.
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