Trump Sold Afghanistan Out, Biden Finished It Off

Hamdullah Mohib, then-Afghanistan’s newly appointed national security advisor, listens to national songs during the change-of-command ceremony at Resolute Support Mission headquarters in Kabul on Sept. 2, 2018. Massoud Hossaini for Foreign Policy

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his closest advisors left behind one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world amid rumors they had personally pilfered millions of dollars meant for development. Afghanistan’s 40 million people now face hunger and destitution.

In 2019, Hamdullah Mohib, then-Afghanistan’s national security advisor, accused the United States of “selling out” after then-U.S. President Donald Trump opened a direct dialogue with the Taliban, sidelining the Afghan government, pledging a U.S. military withdrawal, and effectively sealing the Taliban’s victory in a February 2020 deal.

Since fleeing Afghanistan, Mohib has kept a low profile, exiled first in the United Arab Emirates and now, reunited with his family, in the United States. In a rare interview, Mohib told Foreign Policy why he thinks the republic collapsed, what went wrong, who is at fault, how things could have been different, and what Afghanistan’s future holds as economic and humanitarian catastrophes take hold.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Foreign Policy: How do you assess the situation in Afghanistan?

Hamdullah Mohib: We had hoped to bring this decadeslong chapter of suffering to a peaceful end; it pains me that after over 40 years of war, the suffering of Afghans continues. Though the large-scale violence has [been] drastically reduced, it’s a dire humanitarian and economic situation overall. A lot of the rights and institutions we fought and worked for over the past 20 years have diminished. We are on the verge of economic collapse. We have lost political diversity and freedoms. Voices of opposition and civil society are being actively silenced. Media have largely been forced into self-censorship. The vibrant urban culture in Afghanistan’s major cities is disappearing. The country is fast becoming isolated as the world turns away from Afghanistan—as it has time and time again throughout our history. Against this backdrop, the future is uncertain.

Taliban fighters stand inside an Afghan Air Force aircraft at Kabul’s airport on Aug. 31, 2021, after the United States pulled all of its troops out of the country. WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

FP: Why did the Taliban win?

HM: One major reason was a stark transition in U.S. foreign-policy priority, which originated during Trump’s administration and was executed in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. 

In 2001, the United States led a coalition in Afghanistan to eliminate security threats to its homeland and help…