![]() ![]() “This is the way the mission was designed. Still, in his speech to mark the end of the war, Biden painted the withdrawal as an “extraordinary success.” The President contended that the US military was prepared to deal with all those events, even though he himself has admitted that the US was caught off-guard by the quick collapse of the Afghan army. And on Sunday, American forces carried out a deadly defensive strike targeting a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber who posed an “imminent” threat to the airport. Thirteen US service members were killed in a terrorist attack last week outside the airport’s gates and more than 170 other people died in the suicide blast. ![]() More than 150 Americans struggling to get to the airport were airlifted by helicopter off the roof of a nearby hotel. Snapshots of people trying to flee the Taliban by congregating outside the gates of Kabul’s airport, along with images from inside American military planes filled with evacuees, were broadcast around the world. The US withdrawal was rocked by the Taliban’s unexpectedly swift takeover of Afghanistan’s capital. So, too, did he explain that the era of invading countries with an aim toward installing American values was no longer viable.īiden argued that the US “no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan” and that the US’ withdrawal signaled “ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.” While Biden pledged the mission to help those people leave would continue, he also made clear that America’s interest in Afghanistan was over. Questions linger over potentially hundreds of Americans who were not evacuated and many more Afghan allies who want to leave. “I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit,” he said, casting aside arguments that leaving some troops in the country was a feasible way to keep the Taliban at bay.Įager to move on, Biden hopes his speech amounts to something of the last word after a two-and-a-half week scramble to leave the country. ![]() ![]() He suggested that the humbling end to the war, with the Taliban back in control after trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were spent ousting them, was the fault of decisions made long ago. Instead, Biden said the real choice in Afghanistan was “between leaving and escalating,” framing his call to withdraw troops as the only option aside from surging more forces to the country. His speech, delivered in an impassioned tone that revealed flashes of anger toward his critics, offered no apology for how the war ended. Today I’ve honored that commitment.”īiden was defending a decision that has drawn scrutiny for its chaotic execution that undercut his promise to restore competence to government. When I was running for president, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. “I’m the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. “My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over,” Biden said at the White House, marking a symbolic moment he said was long overdue. President Joe Biden on Tuesday offered a vigorous defense of his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, defending the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul a day after the last American military planes left the country, marking the conclusion of the US’ longest war nearly 20 years after it began. ![]()
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