NBC Reporter On Afghan Crisis: ‘History Will Judge This Moment As A Very Dark Period’ For America

NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel blasted the Joe Biden administration’s disastrous strategy in how it chose to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Engel made his comments during an appearance on MSNBC.

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Engel: ‘A Moment Of American Humiliation Leaving, Forced To Leave On The Taliban’s Clock’

Engel said that while as a “tactical standpoint” it “makes a lot of sense” for the Biden administration to insist on sticking to the August 31 due to Taliban threats, it is still an embarrassing mess. 

“But if you’d step back and look at what is going on, this is the United States, after 20 years, this war used to be called Operation Enduring Freedom, and it’s turned out not to be enduring and they’re not leaving a society that is free,” Engel said.

He added, “It is only free according to what the Taliban says will be free, the Taliban promises that it will be free.”

Engel also brought up how he believes that this moment is “humiliating” for the country.

“You could also look at this as a tremendously humiliating- a moment of American humiliation leaving- forced to leave on the Taliban’s clock and with the Taliban’s good graces,” Engel lamented.

He continued, “So tactically, it makes sense, but I’m not sure how history- I think history will judge this moment as a very dark period for the United States.”

Engel went on to take issue with President Biden’s remarks last week in which the Commander in Chief claimed Americans leaving Afghanistan has been an “orderly process.”

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Engel Drives Home The Complexities Of The Situation In Afghanistan

“President Biden just described a very orderly process, an American airlift that is going efficiently, that there’s a negotiation with the Taliban, that it may be difficult but Afghans can get to the airport and then get on these flights and then come to places like Doha [Qatar]. It is far more chaotic than that,” Engel said.

“So it is a much more complicated airlift,” Engel added, noting the complexity of the situation.

“It is now a humanitarian airlift, more of a refugee extraction,” Engel said. “There is an enormous challenge right now of figuring out who these people are, where to put them, how to process them and how to get even more into the process.”

Biden has been widely panned by people on both sides of the aisle for his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan. It remains to be seen where this disaster will go from here.