Blinken Says US Wasn't Fully Prepared For Afghanistan Crisis As White House Puts Blame On Donald Trump: '...We Got Wrong'

Antony Blinken on Thursday said the U.S. State Department wasn't fully primed for the swift fall of Kabul and the Afghan government as Washington withdrew its army in 2021.

What Happened: "More could and should have been done" by the State Department to prepare for a worst-case scenario in Afghanistan, the Secretary of State told his staff, reported Politico.

The comments came after the White House released an after-action report on the Afghanistan withdrawal, which largely blames former President Donald Trump‘s administration for the chaos unfolding as U.S. troops left Kabul. 

See Also: Melania, Ivanka Missing As Trump Boasts About ‘Great Family’ Amid Legal Woes

“President Biden's choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Blinken accepted that the State Department didn't foresee the Afghan government's rapid collapse. "This was seen as a very low probability, but obviously, potentially very high impact event and more could and should have been done to prepare for it." 

"Even though there were things that we got right, things that we got wrong, things that we could do better, it's really important to me that no matter what, this country knows and appreciates the fact that you all served with incredible dedication and incredible distinction," he added.

The top U.S. diplomat defending his department and the government's action in Afghan said it was "already taking steps to implement" recommendations from the review he ordered.

Following the release of the White House report on the US military’s exit from Afghanistan, Trump reacted swiftly. "These Morons in the White House, who are systematically destroying our Country, headed up by the biggest Moron of them all, Hopeless Joe Biden, have a new disinformation game they are playing – Blame ‘TRUMP’ for their grossly incompetent SURRENDER in Afghanistan,” he said, in a Truth Social post.

Read Next: Trump’s Former Secret Service Agents Said To Spill The Tea Against Him In Mar-A-Lago Probe