On Monday, Americans remembered the third anniversary of the ISIS-K bombing at Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which claimed the lives of 13 U.S. soldiers and 170 Afghans during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Biden administration has faced intense criticism for the withdrawal, with some arguing that it emboldened countries like Russia and Iran to take aggressive actions against the West.

“It was the most seminal, serious foreign policy blunder, I think, of the Biden administration, and it set in motion a series of events that we’re dealing with today,” said Monday. 

The former Army general stated that he was informed by those present with President Biden that, despite warnings of the Taliban’s advance across Afghanistan, the president “defiantly” pressed forward with U.S. plans to withdraw.

Keane argued that the decision to leave U.S. troops in Afghanistan opened the door for other global conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, particularly against Israel. 

“They see it as huge political weakness on our part,” Keane said. “They’ve been coming for us ever since to take advantage of these vulnerabilities, because they clearly see opportunity for themselves.”

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been viewed as inevitable, as the terrorist organization had been gaining influence even prior to the Trump administration’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban, in which the U.S. agreed to withdraw troops entirely by May 2021.

Biden, who extended the withdrawal date to August 2021, acknowledged responsibility for the Abbey Gate attack but also blamed his predecessor for the initial agreement with the Taliban.

“We faced one of two choices: follow the agreement of the previous administration and extend it to have — or extend to more time for people to get out; or send in thousands of more troops and escalate the war,” he said in . “To those asking for a third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask: What is the vital national interest? 

“It was time to end this war,” he added. 

However, the administration continues to face opposition, including from presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris — who played a key role in the U.S. withdrawal, as she told CNN in a 2021 interview that she was the “last” before he made his decision. 

“It was the greatest foreign policy blunder of our lifetimes,” told Monday. “It led to a series of other events that emboldened our adversaries around the world and allowed the Taliban to take back over.

“We effectively sacrificed 20 years of our effort and servicemen and women who served there. It was a terrible thing,” he added.

Biden issued a statement on Monday remembering the 13 service members killed in the August 2021 attack, stating, “They embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless. And we owe them and their families a sacred debt we will never be able to fully repay, but will never cease working to fulfill.”

“Today, our longest war is over. But our commitment to preventing attacks on our homeland — or our people — never will be,” Biden continued. “We will do so without deploying thousands of American troops to ground wars overseas.”

Harris also released a statement acknowledging the anniversary of the attack on Abbey Gate and reaffirmed her support for Biden’s decision to withdraw.

“President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war,” she said. “On this solemn day, let us come together as one nation to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice three years ago.
 
“In their memory, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the cause they gave their lives for: to protect and defend the greatest democracy on Earth, the United States of America,” she added.