Reply to thread

I think the Generals did suggest multiple plans in which troops were left in Afghanistan. I read the transcript of Stephanopoulous’s question. It was part of a larger discussion and it seemed like Biden was trying to dismiss the entire line of questioning. It’s being presented as one question with a flat answer - it seems a bit more nuanced than that, but that doesn’t drive traffic to websites.

So, one could interpret that as advisors not saying to keep 2500 troops, or one could interpret his response as being focused on “stable situation for the last several years” which is what he expounded upon. George layered multiple things onto his question - it wasn’t a flat “keep 2,500” troops - IMHO George should have left the question as that. The way he presented it, one could say he gave Biden space to interpret the question to be about whether the generals said 2,500 troops would keep things stable as they had been for the last several years. That would be naive and I don’t think the generals would claim something like that.

I don’t think it was Biden’s intent to say that no military advisors told him to keep troops there. Based on his full answer, it seemed like he was addressing the stability question. In other statements, it was clear some advisors did suggest that to him. But Biden could have answered it better, and now it’s making him look like he’s contradicting others. I think the media is making more of this answer than they should. Hopefully Biden will have a chance to clear things up... or maybe he will just avoid it and wait for the next news cycle. Who knows... not the greatest moment for the administration either way.