Exclusive: Blame for Afghanistan 'lies on President Biden', says 9/11-era NYPD commissioner 

As the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 completes 20 years, focus is back on Afghanistan. The hasty withdrawal of American forces from the country has thrown up a challenging situation.

WION's New York Correspondent Susan Tehrani spoke with Bernard Kerik, former commissioner of New York City Police who was on ground when the terrorist attack took place.

WION: You were at the base of the twin towers when the second plane hit on September 11, 2001, and on the days that followed, you lead New York Police Department (NYPD) through the aftermath of 9/11 and so many lives depended on the decisions that you would make so you had really a bird’s eye view of what was happening on ground zero. And here we are 20 years on. Where do we stand now? Considering the fact that President Biden insists that the war in Afghanistan is over.

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Kerik: Well listen, he may think that the war in Afghanistan is over but the war between radical Islam and the West is not. And unfortunately for us, the president has made a decision of allowing close to 200,000 Afghans into the United States that I am confident cannot be valid. (They) cannot be monitored and tracked once they get here and melt into the community.

I was there on Sept 11, I watched dozens of people jumping to death, I had 23 members in my department that I lost. We lost 343 firefighters, 37 police officers and thousands of civilians in the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and we did so because 19 people got into this country. Now we are gonna have 200,000 people coming out of a country that we have been fighting in for last 20 years.

You know I watched a press conference today where the commanders and the president said that we will be working with the Taliban to get whoever is left/what Americans left or first of all there should not be any Americans left in Afghanistan.

Secondly, there is not negotiating with the Taliban, there is not coordinating with the Taliban, there is no diplomatic relationship with the Taliban and if you don't believe me turn on the news from yesterday and the day before, they were taking a round in Afghanistan with our equipment, our uniforms with flag-draped coffins calling for the death of America. These are the people that the president believes today that we can communicate with. That is the complete joke so you know I used to talk about the threat we face, in over the last 20 years I pretty much said my greatest fear was radical Islam.

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I am also afraid of this infusion of socialism coming into the United States right now. But I have never been worried about radical Islam on the inside of this country like I will be now as a result of the incompetence of this leadership and stupidity or a lack of common sense and logic over what has happened over the last two weeks.

WION: A lot of lawmakers also share same sentiments. They say that the president's strategy has been to basically set the condition for another 9/11. I would like to get your opinion on whether or not that is overblown first of all and second he recently said that he has never been worried.

Kerik: Well, listen I would disagree with them if one said that there is strategy because there is no strategy. They did things that were completely...there was a lack of common sense, there was lack of logic, there was lack of policy. What they did that pulling out of Afghanistan before there was a removal of diplomatic personnel, a lot of coordinators and co-operators, from the Afghan military or intrepreters who put their lives for us for 20 years, for this president. In fact, the interpreters that were with him were left in the country. So, there was no real plan. And although I don't always agree with Senator Graham, this time 100 percent I agree. We are now going to face a substantial threat as a result for what happened. And I heard within the last 2-3 hours now United States’ military equipment has been observed in Iran, this is outragious. This is completely outragious and stupid. It should have never happened. And it all lies on President Biden.

WION: There was a question now whether or not ISIS is the new Al-Qaeda

Kerik: There is a bottom line. I don't call them ISIS/ Al-Qaeda/ Hamas. I can give you 30 different names. There is a bottom line. There is a group of people in the Middle East that despises our freedom and they strongly believe that if we don't pray to their God the way they do than they actually have the right to kill us.

These are the same people who gonna blow off Israel off the map and they will like to do the same with our county as well. That is the threat we face. These days I don't care what their names are. I don't care if it is ISIS or Al-Qaeda or the Taliban or whatever. It doesn't make any difference to me. The bottom line is that the threat is still there. It is the threat that we going to face and now as a result of what happened in Afghanistan, it is going to be worse than we had to deal in last 20 years.

WION: I want to go back when you were there on ground zero when the planes hit the World Trade Centre 20 years ago and now we hear army general, for example, acknowledged the fact that the Taliban might be ruthless but we don't cooperate with them on counter-terrorism issues. What goes on your mind when you hear something like that?

Kerik: General Milley can't believe that and if he does, he is a moron. And with his mind, his education, his experiences, his time in service, he cannot believe that. And if he does, he should not be in the job in the first place. He is basically echoing the radical that the White House is talking about. He is just repeating that the president, his press secretary is saying. But for God’s sake I cannot believe that General Milley actually believes that because if he does, we are in a lot of problem that I anticipate.

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WION: Do you think that the president is facing the crisis of confidence right now with the American public and the lawmakers on both sides criticising his policies?

Kerik: I think the president is facing lack of confidence from the first day he has taken over the office. This is in my opinion. And I think most people will agree with me. Take away the politics. I have been watching/ listening to him. There are two problems I have. One, he has a lack of mental and physical capabilities. He is not controlling his own destiny. And I know that we all know that. Because he tells us.

There are all these slips over the podium right. 'I was told I can't take questions; I was told not to answer that question, I was told we are not going to do this/that. I am not allowed to take that question'. This is my problem with him, this the President of the United States. I wanna know who is controlling him. Who tells him that you are not allowed to do that. Who told him who are not allowed ro take questions.

I promise you I want to see somebody telling President Trump you are not allowed to do that or you are not going to do that or don't do this. One, the person will be fired. Two, he is gonna do what he is supposed to do. This president gets on the podium and consistently, over and over again tells us he is not in charge. So okay I wanna know who he is.

WION: Commissioner, what went through your head, when you were present there on September 11, 2001? When you were there on ground zero at that moment?

Kerik: Well, when the first plane hit, I was actually in my office. I got down to the streets in 7 to 8 minutes. And as I tried getting to World Trade Centre, I watched people jump to death from tower one.

While I was waiting for the mayor, the second plane slammed through the north side of the tower and at that point, I understood that we were under attack. And at that point the city’s response changed. It went through responding to a crisis. Accident to an attack on the United States of America. What went through my mind immediately after the second plane hit that how many planes were there. What are the buildings, targets will be (attacked). I remember closing down police headquarters, city hall, the United Nations, other places/ areas that could be on target and calling on the White House, asking for support so those are some of the things that went through my mind immediately in the aftermath when second plane hit.

WION: Your final thoughts on where do we go from here 20 years on from September 11th, 2021?

Kerik: We need to reflect back on the leadership. We have to reflect back on the leadership of (former) Mayor Rudy Giuliani, President Bush and what I try to do is remind there were people who did not leave New York City that day, remind them about the men and women of the New York City police dept etc. They affected the greatest rescue operation in the history for us. They took 20,000-25,000 people out of those buildings, out of those surrounding areas and they evacuated more than a million people. This feat has not been accomplished before. I hope this never happens again.

I would like to say this. We don't need four planes flying into country to create another threat like 9/11. There is a possibility people not liking this country to create the same amount of fear, same amount of economic damage to this country by doing another thing that can happen. And you know I am just hoping the intelligence community/ military is up to the task.