Sept 1, 2021: In the last call between US President Joe Biden and his Afghan counterpart before the Taliban took control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy and messaging strategy, but neither Joe Biden nor Ashraf Ghani immediately appeared aware or ready for the ground reality.

Biden and Ghani talked for about 14 minutes on July 23. On August 15, Ghani fled the presidential palace and the Taliban entered Kabul.

Since then, thousands of desperate Afghans have fled, and 13 US soldiers and hundreds of Afghan civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport.

News agency Reuters reviewed the transcript of the presidential phone call between Biden and Ghani and listened to the audio to confirm the conversation.

This content was provided by an anonymous source who was not authorized to distribute it. In the call, Biden offered aid if Ghani could offer it publicly if he had a plan to control the growing situation in Afghanistan.

“If we know what the plan is, we will continue to provide close air support,” Biden said.

A few days before the call, the United States launched airstrikes in support of Afghan security forces, with the Taliban saying the move violated the Doha Peace Accords.

Biden also advised Ghani to get buy-in from powerful Afghans for a military strategy going forward, and then to put a “warrior” in charge of the effort, a reference to Defence Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

Biden praised the Afghan armed forces, which were trained and funded by the US government. “You obviously have the best army,” he told Ghani. “You have 300,000 good armed forces against 70-80,000 and they are well-equipped to fight.”

A few days later, the Afghan army began combining a small fight against the Taliban in the country’s provincial capitals. For the most part, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “idea.”

“I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said.

“And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”

Biden told Ghani that if prominent Afghan political figures held a press conference in support of a new military strategy, “it will change perceptions, and I think it will change a lot.”

The US leader’s words indicated that he did not expect a large-scale uprising and an end in 23 days. “We will continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to ensure that your government not only survives but survives and grows,” Biden said.

The White House declined to comment on the revelations.

Following the call, the White House issued a statement highlighting Biden’s commitment to supporting the Afghan security forces and the administration, which is seeking funding for Afghanistan from Congress.

Ghani told Biden he believed there could be peace if he could “rebalance the military solution.” But he added, “We need to move with speed.”

“We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this,” Ghani said.

The Pakistani embassy in Washington denies the allegations. “Clearly, the myth of Taliban fighters crossing over from Pakistan is unfortunately an excuse and was thought to justify Mr Ashraf Ghani’s failure to lead and govern,” an embassy spokesman told Reuters.

News agency Reuters tried to reach out to Ghani’s staff for the story in a call and text, but to no avail. Ghani’s last public statement, made in the UAE, came on August 18.

He said he fled Afghanistan to stop the bloodshed.

By the time of the call, the United States was ready for its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Biden had postponed from the May date set by his predecessor, Donald Trump. The U.S. military shut down Afghanistan’s main airbase in Bagram in early July.

As the two presidents spoke, Taliban fighters controlled about half of Afghanistan’s district centers, indicating a rapidly deteriorating security situation.

Afghanistan was promising a change in its military strategy, to focus on protecting “population centers” rather than fighting for the protection of rural areas. Biden endorsed the strategy with approval. He said doing so would help create a “perception” not only on the ground but also internationally, which was necessary for the Afghan government to increase international support.

Ghani, for his part, assured Biden that “the assurance of your support goes a long way in enabling us, really motivating us.”

Within two weeks of Biden’s meeting with Ghani, the Taliban seized several provincial Afghan capitals, and the United States said it was up to Afghan security forces to defend the country.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Aug. 9, “These are their military forces, this is their provincial capital, their people are for defense.”

On August 11, US intelligence reports indicated that Taliban fighters could seize the Afghan capital in 30 to 90 days. In reality, it took the Taliban less than a week.

The Biden-Ghani call also highlighted the continuing political turmoil that has troubled the Afghan government. When Biden asked him to include former Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the press conference, Ghani backed off.

He said Karzai would not be helpful. “It’s the other way around, and time is of the essence. We can’t bring everyone … We’ve been trying with President Karzai for months. The last time we met for 110 minutes, he was cursing me. And he was accusing me of being an American lackey. Biden paused before answering: “I’ll reserve judgement on that.”

None of Karzai’s aides could not be reached for comment.

In a follow-up call later that day, which did not include the US president, Biden’s national security adviser Jack Sullivan, General Mark Milley and US Central Command commander General Frank McKenzie spoke to Ghani.

According to a copy of that call, one area of focus was the global perception of what was happening on the ground in Afghanistan. “In the United States, Europe and the media, this idea is the story of the Taliban’s momentum and the Taliban’s victory. And we need to demonstrate collectively and change that perception,” Milley told Ghani, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“I don’t believe time is our friend. We need to move fast,” McKenzie added.

A Mackenzie spokesman declined to comment. Milley’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and updates!