January 1, Trump-era counterterrorism official outlines Biden’s ‘missteps’ that led to bombings

Nathan Sales, who served as ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism under former President Trump, described what he found to be the critical missteps made ahead of the deadly suicide bombings outside the Kabul airport.

“One of the most important and mistaken decisions that President Biden made was to withdraw from Bagram Air Base. Bagram Air Base is 30 or so miles north of the capital. It was a military facility. It was indeed the heart of American counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan for years. It would have been a far better alternative for carrying out the evacuation that is now going on,” Sales said.

The attacks are believed to have been carried out by ISIS.

“If it was them, the fact that ISIS was able to carry out a sophisticated attack like this, despite Taliban pressure against them, really suggests that Afghanistan going forward is going to be a petri dish for all kinds of terrorist threats,” Sales said.

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Trump counterterrorism official outlines Biden’s ‘missteps’ leading to deadly Kabul bombings