Analysis: The US withdrawal in Afghanistan was in focus during the debate. Here’s key context to know, CNN.com

From CNN's Peter Bergen During the debate, former President Donald Trump pinned the blame for the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago on the Biden-Harris administration during which 13 American servicemembers were killed by an ISIS suicide bomber along with some 170 Afghans on August 26, 2021. There is some merit to Trump’s argument, after all, the Biden Harris administration was in charge when the Afghanistan withdrawal happened and during the debate Vice President Kamala Harris said that she endorsed the withdrawal. Yet, as Harris also pointed out, it was the Trump administration that had negotiated the US withdrawal agreement with the Taliban in 2020, an insurgent group, rather than with the elected Afghan government. The Taliban did not observe the terms of the withdrawal agreement; neither negotiating in good faith for power-sharing with the Afghan government nor did they separate from terrorist organizations. For his part, Trump had no problem pulling out of the Obama administration’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even though this agreement was negotiated together with American allies, not with an insurgent group. So, the idea that Biden-Harris administration was bound by Trump’s agreement with the Taliban as the administration has claimed makes no sense. We can, however, expect to hear more on this issue as the presidential campaign continues, after all, some 800,000 American men and women have served in Afghanistan; many of whom will surely be voting in this close election.