Biden call to Afghan prez: a ‘perception’ problem
The White House ignored a bombshell report by Reuters claiming President Biden urged the Afghan president to fix a “perception” problem as the Taliban was on the move — even if it wasn’t the truth.
“I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said to Ashraf Ghani, according to a transcript and audio reviewed by Reuters news agency.
“And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture,” Biden is alleged to have told his Afghan counterpart.
The Afghan president soon fled, the country folded and the Taliban swooped into Kabul forcing a deadly exodus by Americans that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. soldiers.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged the issue Wednesday.
“I’m not going to get into private diplomatic conversations or leaked transcripts of phone calls,” Psaki said, according to a transcript of the press briefing shared with the Herald..
“But what I can reiterate for you is that we have stated many times that no one anticipated … that the Taliban would be able to take over the country as quickly as they did or that the Afghan National Security Forces would fold as quickly as they did,” she added.
Meanwhile, the United Nations’ stockpiles of food in Afghanistan could run out this month, a senior official warned Wednesday, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the country’s new Taliban rulers as they try to restore stability after decades of war.
About one third of the country’s population of 38 million doesn’t know if they will have a meal every day, according to Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N.’s humanitarian chief in Afghanistan.
Earlier, U.N. officials said that of the $1.3 billion needed for overall aid efforts, only 39% has been received.