Biden defends withdrawal from Afghanistan despite mounting criticism

[ad_1]

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he “fully” supported his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan and that the collapse of the Afghan government had been faster than expected.

“After 20 years, I have learned the hard way that there is never a good time to withdraw US forces,” he said.

Biden said he would rather accept criticism of the fallout in Afghanistan rather than pass the decision on to a fifth president. He said the decision to leave Afghanistan was “the right one for America”. He said maintaining a US presence in Afghanistan was no longer a US national security interest.

Biden described the footage from Afghanistan, particularly at the Kabul airport, where thousands of Afghans have descended in the hope of fleeing the country as “heartbreaking.” A video of Afghans hanging from a US Air Force plane as it prepared for takeoff had circulated widely on the Internet.

But he did not admit any American fault in the way the withdrawal was carried out. The president admitted that the Taliban takeover went faster than expected. About a month ago, Biden pushed back against the idea of ​​a quick Taliban takeover.

See the scene at Kabul airport:

The speed of the collapse of the Afghan government and the chaos that followed was the most serious test yet for Biden as commander-in-chief, and he came under heavy criticism from Republicans who said he had failed.

Still, the president said the swift demise of the Afghan government only justified his decision, noting how the Afghan military surrendered to the Taliban.

“US troops cannot and must not wage war and die in a war Afghan forces are unwilling to wage for themselves,” Biden said.

Biden criticizes Afghan leaders, Trump

Biden singled out the two main Afghan leaders, President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country on Sunday, and Abdullah Abdullah, head of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation, saying he “categorically refused” his advice to seek a settlement. politics with the Taliban.

“How many more generations of American daughters and sons would you want me to send to fight … the civil war in Afghanistan when Afghan troops will not?” Biden asked. “How many more lives is that worth to Americans? How many endless rows of headstones in Arlington National Cemetery?”

The events we are witnessing today are sadly proof that no amount of US military force will ever allow a stable, united and secure Afghanistan.

What is happening now could just as easily have happened five or fifteen years ago in the future.

– @ ROUGH DRAFT

He also criticized his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, whose administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that Biden said left the group “in the strongest military position since 2001”.

The president acknowledged that there were concerns as to why the Afghans had not been evacuated earlier, but said his administration was discouraged from doing so by the Afghan government at the time.

“Part of the answer is that some Afghans did not want to leave sooner, still hopeful for their country,” Biden said.

“We could have done a lot more”

But five US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that weeks before the collapse of the Washington-backed Afghan government, the US military wanted to play a bigger role in evacuating Afghans at risk. because they worked for the United States. Officials believe a more orderly withdrawal would have been likely.

“We could have done a lot more to help. The administration has waited too long,” said a military official.

In response, a senior administration official on Monday quoted comments from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who said Biden’s team had been “engaged in extensive scenario planning for months and ready to take on the task. this challenge “.

Despite the rapid collapse of the government, Sullivan said the embassy had been closed “safely and quickly” and “we are now focusing on the laser to get people out safely and quickly.”

There were also issues with intelligence, with an assessment last week indicating that Kabul would not be isolated for the next 30 days at least.

“Every decision came too late”

A person familiar with the situation said the Biden administration was late as things deteriorated in Afghanistan. “Each decision came too late and in reaction to events which render the subsequent decision obsolete,” the source said.

Local embassy workers who have been at home for weeks have had to make their own way to the airport, the source said.

Emails were sent to them on Sunday after sporadic gunfire to stay in their homes or other safe place, according to the source.

The pandemonium that hampered the evacuations prompted some embassy officials to voice concerns about insufficient US troops to secure the airport, reflecting poor planning and intelligence failures, the source said. .

The source and another US official told Reuters that the administration had so misjudged the situation that the State Department sent a regular rotation of diplomats to Kabul last Tuesday even as the Taliban advanced towards the capital.

WATCH | Chaos sets in as thousands crowd Kabul airport: Afghans chase U.S. Air Force plane in desperate attempt to flee the country Thousands try to flee Afghanistan as the Taliban strengthen their grip on the country. Some people chased a US Air Force plane across the tarmac, while others attempted to force their way into planes at Kabul airport. 0:38

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers also weighed in on the criticism.

“The withdrawal of US troops should have been carefully planned to prevent violence and instability, and to ensure that the hard-won gains over the past two decades, particularly with regard to Afghan women and girls, are not not lost, ”said Tom Carper, a US senator. from Biden’s hometown of Delaware and his fellow Democrat.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who opposes Biden’s decision to withdraw, said it was unlikely that U.S. personnel and Afghans at risk could be evacuated until August 31, a deadline set by Biden for a full withdrawal. Graham said the “artificial deadline” would likely result in the thousands of Afghans who helped America be left behind.

Biden announced in April that he would withdraw the remaining 2,500 troops from Afghanistan as part of a 2020 deal struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump.

Military officials advised against it, but some officials said they believed their views had been heard and the American public was ready to end America’s longest war.

Taliban seize US-supplied weapons, planes

Built and trained at a cost of US $ 83 billion over twenty years, the Afghan security forces have collapsed so quickly and completely in some cases without a shot being fired that the ultimate beneficiary of the US investment turned out to be the Taliban. They seized not only political power, but also firearms, ammunition, helicopters and more provided by the United States.

Taliban fighters stand guard outside the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul on Monday. The Taliban seized the capital this weekend. (Rahmat Gul / The Associated Press) Taliban fighters guard the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul on Monday. A US intelligence assessment had predicted the city would not be isolated for at least 30 days. (Rahmat Gul / The Associated Press)

The Taliban captured an array of modern military equipment when they invaded Afghan forces who failed to defend the district centers. Bigger gains followed, including fighter jets, as the Taliban rolled up provincial capitals and military bases with astonishing speed, capped off by capturing the biggest prize, Kabul, over the weekend.

A US defense official confirmed on Monday that the Taliban’s sudden build-up of US-supplied equipment in Afghanistan is huge. The official was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity. The overthrow is an embarrassing consequence of the erroneous assessment of the viability of Afghan government forces by the US military as well as intelligence agencies who in some cases have chosen to surrender their vehicles and weapons rather than fight .

Biden leaves the podium after giving a televised speech on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan to the White House on Monday. The president did not answer questions. (Evan Vucci / The Associated Press)

[ad_2]