- Reuters reported on the last call between Biden and
Ashraf Ghani before the Taliban seized power. - Biden reportedly praised the Afghan government, and both men seemed unaware of the imminent danger.
- The speed of the Taliban takeover had taken the White House by surprise.
President
In the 14-minute call on July 23, details of which were leaked to Reuters, the two leaders reportedly discussed issues including military aid and messaging, but did not address the collapsing resistance of the Afghan military in face of a Taliban onslaught.
A little over three weeks later, on August 15, the Taliban seized Kabul and the Afghan's presidential palace, and Ghani fled the country.
The US and its allies scrambled to evacuate their citizens and Afghan allies in chaotic scenes at Kabul's international airport. Thirteen US service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians were also killed when twin blasts ripped through crowds attempting to flee Afghanistan at Kabul's airport last week.
But in the call, Biden praised the Afghan military, which had been trained and funded by the US.
"You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70 to 80,000 and they're clearly capable of fighting well," he added, according to Reuters.
Days later, key Afghan provincial capitals began to fall to the Taliban, with the Afghan military offering only limited resistance. Biden officials later blamed Afghan security forces for lacking the "will" to defend their country against the Taliban.
Biden also expressed the US commitment to ensuring the stability of the Afghan government in the call, saying, according to Reuters: "We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows."
Biden later said that Ghani needed to focus on improving the Afghan government's public relations strategy.
"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, per Reuters. "And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Biden and his administration have faced withering criticism over their handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well as their failure to realize how quickly the Taliban were able to retake the country.
In a July press conference announcing that most US military forces had withdrawn from Afghanistan, Biden said the prospect of a Taliban takeover was remote, and expressed confidence in the ability of the Afghan military to defend the country.
On August 11, The Washington Post reported that US intelligence agencies believed that a Taliban takeover could be 90 days away, a projection that also proved inaccurate.
About 200 US citizens have been left behind in the country alongside thousands of Afghan allies after the US pulled out its final troops on Monday.
Ghani, who had pledged to try and form a transitional government after the collapse of the Afghan military, hastily fled the country when the Taliban entered the outskirts of Kabul on August 14. He has taken asylum in the United Arab Emirates.