Harris was last person in the room' on Afghan exit

When Joe Biden's presidency began in 2021, Afghan official Nader Nadery knew that the new commander in chief was determined to pull U.S. troops from his country.

But Nadery, like other Afghans who feared the return of a repressive Taliban regime that had been overthrown in 2001, hoped he had an ally who could persuade Biden to leave some forces behind until the Taliban agreed to a peace deal: Vice President Kamala Harris.

While Harris had backed Biden's pledge to end the bloody and costly 20-year military operation, she had also been outspoken about protecting women and children after the United States pulled out. "I want to ensure that the country is on a path to stability, that we protect the gains that have been made for Afghan women and others," Harris said in 2019 while running for president.

She raised important questions about the Afghanistan withdrawal before the calamitous, 17-day evacuation from Kabul but did not push for any alternative policy, according to officials who attended meetings that included her and who provided new details about the matter to The Washington Post.

One former senior military official involved in the deliberations said that Harris asked sharp questions "like a district attorney" during interagency meetings early in 2021 but revealed little about what she was thinking on the issue.

A Harris aide said in an emailed statement that the vice president was fully involved in briefings in which she asked "probing questions." The aide said Harris "strongly supported President Biden's decision to end America's longest war," adding, "We're not going to get into the Vice President's private counsel to the President."

Supporting the President is every VP's #1 job, regardless of party. But the evidence from the time shows Harris was focused on the things that could go wrong during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan even though she publicly supported Biden's ultimate decision.