i told you, i have no comment on this. okay. well, let s turn to another difficult subject, which is afghanistan, the timetable for the withdrawal because france and other nato allies were critical of the chaotic way that the u.s. left afghanistan without giving american allies more times to withdraw, the sequencing and ignoring the advice from nato in june when we were in brussels together. how does france think the u.s. should have handled it? on afghanistan, of course, we have the question about consultations, but now we must two things on this, first we must also look forward. we have fundamental issues which are first first circulation for afghan people possibly to travel, the rights, human rights, and how we can defend
cia afghan allies and their families out of the country. that s not to say the state department hasn t been trying. the state department s behavior in the last two weeks of the withdrawal was pretty amazing and courageous. but the cia s performance was extraordinary. they feel good about keeping faith. this question of how you keep faith with the afghan women is i think one of the hardest ones that the u.s. is going to face. and amidst everything else, the last thing that the white house needed was an argument with france. michael, you point out in the article that when secretary blinken came to paris earlier this year, he got a warm reception. a lot has to do with the fact that regrew up here. he went to high school in france. his mother still lives here. so what are the chances he s going to get this same warm hug from the french when he arrived today after this submarine deal? well, he ll get a hug.
the rights of women, and third, how we can ensure the fight against the terrorist groups, which we also are fighting with support by critical capacities brought by the u.s. those are the issues we must work on together between allies. i think also that we must also draw from what all those events and from this point of view a good example, how the europeans can do more themselves when our american allies will not be in the leadership position, when supporters will provide political and technical support. so it is also a very important point, which we will be discussing with our american partners, france and allies.
believe was theirs as well as, of course, the messy u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan against the advice of nato allies, but i ll send it back to you first for more on the president s agenda and his comments just now. we ll talk to you in just a bit. joining us now for more on the big hurdles facing the president is sahil kapur, reuters white house correspondent jeff mason, and former republican national chairman michael steele. jeff mason, we ll start with you. let s listen to bit more from the president s comments moments ago on the debt limit. take a listen to this. let s be clear, not only are republicans refusing to do their job, they re threatening to use the power, their power to prevent us from doing our job, saving the economy from a catastrophic event. i think quite frankly, it s hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful. their obstruction and irresponsibility knows absolutely no bounds.
in this respect absolutely essential. those issues are in particular the indo-pacific because the u.s., president biden reaffirmed the importance for the u.s., the french and european indo-pacific strategies. and then we have to discuss the european defense, strengthening of european defense to come and fight against terrorism. so many common goals and i m sure others too. we have to discuss to find concrete actions. we can decide together as allies. will president macron be willing to meet with secretary blinken this week? i don t comment the schedule of my president. so you don t know is that still a possibility?