I stand by my decision Biden defends US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Washington: US President Joe Biden has insisted he was right to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, saying it would be wrong to ask American troops to risk their lives for a cause that Afghan soldiers and political leaders were not willing to fight for.

While defending his decision to end America’s military involvement in Afghanistan, Biden conceded that the US-backed Afghan government had collapsed sooner than his administration had anticipated.

US President Joe Biden resolute on his decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan.Credit:AP

He added that the images emerging from Afghanistan, including chaotic scenes at Kabul international airport, were “gut-wrenching”.

“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time withdraw US forces.”

Speaking publicly for the first time since Taliban forces seized control of Kabul, Biden said that the rapid collapse of the Afghan government justified the US decision to leave the country.

“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” he said.

“How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives, American lives, is it worth, how many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?“

Maintaining an ongoing military presence in Afghanistan was not in the United States’ national security interests, Biden said.

Advertisement

He said that America’s strategic rivals such as China and Russia would love the US to continue pouring resources into Afghanistan.

Saying he had always promised to be “straight” with the American people, Biden said: “The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we anticipated.”

He said the US had not foreseen that Afghan security forces would put up such feeble resistance against the Taliban or that Afghan leaders, including President Ashraf Ghani, would flee the country when they came under attack.

Biden was speaking after disorder unfolded at the US-controlled Kabul international airport as thousands of Afghans tried to flee the country.

At least seven people were killed at the airport, the Associated Press reported, including several Afghans who clung to the outside of a military aircraft and plunged to their death.

The Pentagon also confirmed that US troops had shot dead two people at the airport.

“All the images coming out are of concern and troubling,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. He confirmed that all military and civilian flights out of the airport had been suspended because of a security breach.

More to come

Get a note direct from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.

Matthew Knott is North America correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Most Viewed in World

Share this post