A rchive Date
[ 31-08-2021 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-58279900
Biden: Afghan exit 'best decision for US'
Biden's address to the nation
Edited by Sean Fanning 31/08/2021
President Joe Biden has defended his much-criticised decision to pull out US troops from Afghanistan - an event that led to the unexpected collapse of the Afghan government and the return of Taliban militants in charge of the country.
Since 15 August, when the capital, Kabul, fell - a frantic US-led military operation was launched to evacuate more than 120,000 people - Western nationals and local Afghans who'd been working for them. So what did Biden say about this decision?
President Biden said he accepted responsibility for the decision to withdraw, adding that he believed that staying longer wasn’t an option
Even though Afghan security forces collapsed faster than expected, the US was prepared for that scenario, too, Biden said
On the evacuation, he said "only the US had the capacity and the will and ability" to do it
The president promised to evacuate Americans left in the country "if they so choose". And to local Afghans who wish to leave, he said, "we are far from done"
Amid criticism that evacuations should have started earlier, Biden said there would still would have been “a rush to the airport”
Even though there were threats to the US from Islamist militants, the US president said the US strategy had to change - there was no need to have troops on the ground to fight terror
And referring to the Islamic State affiliate which attacked crowds at Kabul airport - killing more than 170 people, 13 of them US servicemen - Biden warned: "ISIS-K we are not done with you yet."
Biden attempts to 'turn the page' from a month of chaos
Anthony Zurcher BBC North America reporter
31/08/2021
On Tuesday afternoon, Joe Biden tried to “turn the page” from a month of chaos and death in Afghanistan and, more broadly, from 20 years of ultimately futile US attempts at occupation and nation-building.
He spoke of the “extraordinary success” of the US evacuation mission over the past few weeks, with more than a hundred thousand Americans and Afghans airlifted out under extreme duress.
At times he seemed defensive, noting that Americans were warned 19 times to exit Afghanistan before the August US military withdrawal. He accused Afghan leaders, allies on whom the US had depended, of “corruption and malfeasance”. And he blamed the Trump administration for negotiating what he characterised as an inadequate withdrawal agreement with the Taliban.
He spent less time talking about the failures – of the 13 US soldiers who lost their lives last week and the hundreds of civilian casualties. Instead, he spoke of the cost of the so-called “forever war” – of thousands of US military casualties, tens of thousands of injuries and trillions of dollars spent in an effort that began and ended with Taliban in control.
He said the US had no vital interest in Afghanistan, and that the mission there – to eradicate Al-Qaeda and prevent future terror attacks – was accomplished a decade ago.
“It was time to end this war,” he said. He then tried to reframe US foreign policy as depending less on military deployments and more on diplomacy and international cooperation to face adversaries like China and Russia.
Public opinion polls show Americans still support the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, although many are unhappy with how Biden oversaw the exit. White House officials say they hope, as time passes, that the nation will be grateful for what the president accomplished and forget the details of how it ended.
Protecting US 'from threats of 2021, not 2001', says Biden
Biden sought to answer those who questioned why things had to change.
He said "everything had changed" after "my predecessor made a deal with a Taliban".
For those wanting a "third decade of war", he said it was key to look at what the "vital national interest" was.
And, what is in the national interest is to make sure Afghanistan can never be used again to launch an attack on the US, he says.
The US succeeded in what it set out to do over a decade ago, following the September 11 attacks, he says. It is a "new world" and the terror threat is now from many other places across the globe.
His priority is to defend and protect America - from the threats not of 2001 but of 2021, he says.
Biden warns: 'You will pay the ultimate price'
"To those who wish America harm, the US will never rest," says Biden.
"We will not forgive, forget, we will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and you will pay the ultimate price".
He says the US will continue to support Afghans through diplomacy and aid. He adds that America will speak out for the rights of Afghan people including women and girls.
"I have been clear that human rights will be at the centre of foreign policy", he says.
“The war in Afghanistan is now over.”
'The world is changing'
"We delivered justice to Bin Laden over a decade ago. Al-Qaeda was decimated," says Biden.
He says that "this is a new world" and there are threats from al-Shabab, al-Qaeda affiliates and the Islamic State group.
"I do not believe the safety and security of America is enhanced by deploying thousands of troops and spending billions in Afghanistan," he says.
He says the US strategy has to change and doesn't need to have troops on the ground to fight terror.
"We struck ISIS-K remotely days after they murdered 13 of our service members and dozens of innocent Afghans.
"ISIS-K we are not done with you yet," he adds.
Biden did not want to 'extend a forever exit'
The US has "leverage" to make sure commitments made by the Taliban are met, says Biden.
He goes on to say the 31 August withdrawal was not an "arbitrary deadline" but was to save lives.
If the US stayed, despite the previous administration promising to leave, then "all bets were off", he said.
The choice he faced was between leaving, or the situation escalating.
He was not going to "extend this forever war" - and was not going to continue with a forever exit.
President Biden: 'I take responsibility'
President Biden said he accepts responsibility for the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, adding that he believes that staying longer wasn’t an option.
“Some say we should have started the mass evacuation sooner and couldn’t have this been done in a more orderly manner,” he said. “I respectfully disagree.”
Biden said that he believes that even if evacuations had begun in June or July, there still “would have been a rush to the airport”.
“It still would have been a very difficult and dangerous mission,” he said, adding that no evacuation from the end of the war could have been done without the same “complexities and challenges.”
Biden promises to help remaining US citizens who want to leave
Biden says the US was ready when the Afghanistan government "did not hold on as long as anyone expected".
He says the evacuation mission was designed under "severe stress and attack".
Since March, Americans in Afghanistan had been given "multiple warnings" and a chance to leave the country.
After starting the evacuation, the US identified about 5,000 US citizens who now wanted to leave. These were helped to leave, as well as those Afghans who had helped the US.
About 100-200 Americans remain - most of whom have dual nationality. The "bottom line" is the 90% of Americans who wanted to leave were able to, he says.
The US remains committed to getting them out if they want to come out, he adds.
'We are far from done'
President Biden has said the US will help evacuate Americans left "if they so choose".
Turning to the Afghans airlifted out he says "no country has done more to airlift residents of another country. We are far from done".
Biden says he disagrees with claims that the evacuations should have started earlier. He claims that there still would be queues outside the airport.
Biden praises 'mission of mercy'
US president Joe Biden praised US forces, citing their "extraordinary success". It was due to the "skill, bravery and selfless courage" of the military, diplomats and intelligence professionals.
He said they did their job "and did it well", risking their lives "to serve others... not in a mission of war but a mission of mercy".
US was 'prepared' for rapid collapse of Afghanistan, Biden says
US President Joe Biden began his address by giving his thanks to the US military personnel for their work evacuating more than 120,000 from Kabul.
“That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible,” he said. “No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history.”
He said that the operation wouldn’t have been possible without the “skill, bravery and selfless courage” of US troops, diplomats, and intelligence personnel.
“They did it facing a crush of enormous crowds seeking to leave the country and they did it knowing Isis-K terrorists, sworn enemies of the Taliban, were lurking in the midst of those crowds.”
Thirteen US troops were killed in the operation, as well as 20 wounded.
Biden acknowledged that the Afghan military collapsed faster than expected ahead of the 31 August deadline.
“I still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality, even that one,” he said. “We were ready when the Afghan security forces…did not hold on as long as anyone expected.”
More than 2,400 US military personnel were killed in the Afghan war, with nearly 23,000 wounded.
Biden defends US evacuation
"We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history," Joe Biden says as he comes to the podium at the White House. "No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history; only the United States had the capacity and the will and ability to do it."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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