US House Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney says there is "no question" President Joe Biden could have back-pedaled on the US agreement with the Taliban* negotiated by the former administration of Donald Trump.
Cheney told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday that entering talks with the Islamists anounted to recognizing them as a legitimate power in Afghanistan, while the elected government was not part of the negotiations.
"[W]e sat down and negotiated with terrorists, because we completely excluded the Afghan government from those negotiations, we gave credibility to the Taliban," Cheney said.
"Secretary Pompeo told us that the Taliban was going to renounce al Qaeda. They told us that the Taliban was going to fight terrorists. They forced the Afghan national government, we did, to release 5,000 prisoners. So we completely undercut the Afghan national government, we absolutely emboldened the Taliban," she added.
When asked by the host if Biden had the opportunity to reverse the deal Cheney labeled a "surrender agreement", she replied that there was "no question" the POTUS has the right to do so, as he did reverse some of the policies initiated by Trump.
She named the potential revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as examples.
"President Biden ignored the advice of his military leadership and decided instead he's going to withdraw. And all you have to do is look at what is unfolding today," the congresswoman said.
The 2020 agreement with the Taliban, which Trump touted as one of his achievements while president, envisaged the Islamists renouncing violence in return for the gradual pullout of all American forces from the country. In accordance with the agreement, the US forces were supposed to withdraw by May 1, 2021, but Biden switched the deadline to August 31, just days before the 9/11 anniversary.
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia