During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Fox News’ Ed Henry pressed spokesman Josh Earnest, asking him if the U.S.’s withdrawal plan in Afghanistan will lead to “a replay of Iraq,” where the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria filled the vacuum after the U.S.’s troop pull out, according to Henry. The Fox reporter asked this in the wake of Tuesday’s murder of 140 people at a Pakistani school at the hands of al-Qaida.
“The president yesterday said, basically, the war in Afghanistan is coming to an end at the end of the month. Then, hours later the Taliban goes into Pakistan, into a school and kills over 140 people, mostly kids,” said Henry. “Is the Taliban sending a signal that the war is not over? And once we leave, is this just going to be a replay of Iraq: we pull out, and ISIS fills the vacuum.”
Henry repeated his point later on, asking Earnest how worried he is “that we are going to have a replay?“ with Earnest saying the key to a successful transition and pushback against forces is a strong central government, both within Iraq and Afghanistan.
HENRY: “The president yesterday said, basically, the war in Afghanistan is coming to an end at the end of the month. Then, hours later the Taliban goes into Pakistan, into a school and kills over 140 people, mostly kids. Is the Taliban sending a signal that the war is not over? And once we leave, is this just going to be a replay of Iraq: we pull out, and ISIS fills the vacuum.”
EARNEST: “Well, Ed, this is the Pakistani Taliban that claimed credit for this particular attack, and what they said is that they were…”
HENRY: “And attacks from the Taliban on the Afghan side have been increasing in recent days as well.”
EARNEST: “Well as to this specific school, the Pakistani Taliban, they claimed credit, or responsibility for this attack. I’m not in a position to say from here exactly who was responsible. This is something as you would expect, the authorities are looking into. But what those who claimed responsibility for this attack have said is that they were reacting to the latest Pakistani military offensive in this restive region in this country. But to your more broad question about the…”
HENRY: “The president himself yesterday said that it’s not a great situation in Afghanistan. He was honest about that. So, that’s my question.”
EARNEST: “And it’s a good one. And it’s one that the military and the national security team as a whole has been very focused on. That is why the enduring mission of our military men and women who continue to serve in Afghanistan is focused on two things. One is the kinds of counterterrorism activities that will benefit American national security, first and foremost, but also have a benefit on the stability of the central government in Afghanistan. They will also be engaged in the ongoing effort to train and advise and assist Afghan security forces. This has been a long running effort, and there is no doubt, and I think that even the Pentagon would concede, that there have been fits and starts associated wit this training program. There is no denying the fact that substantial progress has been made, that we have seen the capability and competence of Afghan security forces improve significantly over the last several years. Their continued improvement continues to be in the national security interests of the United States, and we are going to see a sustained commitment to that effort.”
HENRY: “Didn’t we hear the same from the president though at the end of 2011. We are leaving behind a stable, self-reliant Iraq. Almost the same words you just said about Afghanistan, and then it collapses, ISIS goes in and fills the vacuum. How worried are you that we are going to have a replay?”
EARNEST: “Well, Ed, I do think this highlights a key difference between this president’s pursuit and from the strategy pursued by a previous administration. No longer can the United States be in the situation where we are doing it for the host country. In the situation for Iraq, they were left a stable and peaceful country. This is sentiment that even Sen. McCain himself acknowledged as the case. What we saw, however, was a failure by the central government of Iraq to unite that country to confront the threats that they face and that’s why the lynchpin of the president’s strategy for confronting ISIL was based on the success of the central government of Iraq actually governing in an inclusive fashion that would inspire the confidence of the people of Iraq that they should unite together to face down this common threat. So, the point is we are employing a similar strategy in Afghanistan. We want to see the Afghan government govern in a way that is genuinely inclusive and we are encouraged by the early reports of this newly formed government. This is a — this Democratic transition that we saw over the course of the fall was historic for Afghanistan. This is the first time we’ve seen the peaceful Democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s history. So there are certainly challenges that they face and will face, and there will be setbacks. but the United States of America remains committed to standing with our partners in Afghanistan as they try to rebuild and strengthen their country. We will stand with them, not by having committing a substantial number of American military personnel serving on the ground in that country, but we will stand with them when it comes to counterterrorism. We’ll stand with them when it comes to training their security forces. We will stand with them when it comes to broader national security agreements that are beneficial to American national security and beneficial to the national security of that country. And there are also important diplomatic and economic investments that will endure as well.”
WATCH (Starts at 1:29:42)