According to reports, Biden’s senior aide offered to resign after withdrawing from Afghanistan

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan According to Washington Post reporter David Ignatius, the president has offered to resign from the Biden administration after the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Ignatius, Washington Post columnist, He spoke to Sullivan and several colleagues as the Biden administration nears its end.

According to reports, several of Sullivan’s colleagues told Ignatius that Sullivan had offered to resign and that President Biden had insisted that he stay on as national security adviser.

Ignatius said the withdrawal from Afghanistan had “broken the first alliance” of the Biden administration’s national security team and created a rift between Sullivan and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Biden White House Claims Responsibility for ‘Chaos’ in Afghanistan, Says Vigilant on Terror Threat

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In 2021, the retreat claimed more than a dozen lives American military and led to the Taliban regaining control of the war-torn nation.

Sullivan told the Washington Post columnist: “You can’t end a war like Afghanistan, where you create addictions and pathologies, without the end being complex and difficult.” “The choice was: Go and it won’t be easy, or stay forever.”

Sullivan added, “Leaving Kabul freed (the U.S.) to deal with Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, which would have been impossible had we stayed.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE MEDIA AND CULTURE WRITING

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 15, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura (Reuters//Violeta Santos Moura)

Ignatius wrote that the Pentagon is resisting Biden’s call to withdraw all US troops From Afghanistan and advocated in favor of a “residual force of 2,500 men at Kabul.”

Sullivan initially shared the Pentagon’s concerns, Ignatius wrote, citing two close advisers.

However, he began to “faithfully” support Biden’s plan to withdraw completely.

Wall Street Journal national security correspondent Alex Ward, who wrote the book “The Internationalists” about the president’s foreign policy team, noted that advisers he spoke to for the book said no one had offered to resign.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sullivan evaluated Ignatius’ performance toward the end of the interview.

“Are our allies stronger? Yes. Are our enemies weaker? Yes. Have we kept America out of war? Yes. Have we improved our strategic position in competition with China while stabilizing relations? Yes. Have we strengthened America’s engines? Yes to economic and technological power,” he said.