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The Government of Tajikistan today summoned the U.S. ambassador to the republic to protest over the statements made by President Joe Biden last Saturday about the former Soviet republic when he explained the chaos of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
The Tajik Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it has delivered to the head of the U.S. legation in Dusambe, John Mark Pommersheim, “a verbal note of protest” on the grounds that Biden’s remarks “do not correspond to the spirit of friendly relations and partnership.”
During his visit to a fire station in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Biden maintained that his decision to withdraw troops was the right one.
“Can al Qaeda come back? Yeah. But guess what? It’s already back other places. What’s the strategy? — Every place where al Qaeda is, we’re going to invade and have troops stay in?” he said.
He insisted that the chaos of withdrawal at Kabul airport was inevitable: “if we were in Tajikistan and we pulled up with a C-130 and said, “We’re going to let, you know, anybody who was involved with being sympathetic to us to get on the plane,” you’d have people hanging in the wheel well.”
“The Republic of Tajikistan is interested in the development of mutually beneficial relations with the United States of America in the spirit of mutual support and mutual respect,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
