President Joe Biden defended his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in a Monday afternoon speech, saying he believes he made the right decision even as the country crumbles.
“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces. That’s why we’re still there.”
Taliban militants toppled the country’s U.S.-backed government on Sunday ― leaving America with only a final toehold there after a 20-year military mission, at the airport in Kabul. Thousands of Americans and U.S.-aligned Afghans have yet to depart and approximately 6,000 U.S. troops are guarding the facility as officials say they are rushing to organize evacuation flights.
Biden announced his surprise address after being criticized for his silence on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Biden acknowledged that conditions had worsened swiftly. But he placed the blame elsewhere, noting that former President Donald Trump had made a deal with the Taliban and suggesting that Afghans should have fought harder.
“The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated,” he said. “So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight.”
Lawmakers ― including many prominent Democrats ― and national security experts say the Biden administration must do more for Afghans who could be targeted by the Taliban, such as women in public life and human rights activists. Desperate people continue to head to the Kabul airport in hopes of accessing a military or commercial flight to another country, enduring distressing conditions there and risking their lives.
Biden said his team is working hard on behalf of the vulnerable Afghans, noting that more than 1,000 Afghans who worked with the military have already come to the U.S. and that the State Department opened up a new visa category for Afghan refugees this month.
But Afghans say that visa processing has taken months as the Taliban has steadily advanced, and humanitarian groups note that the additional visas are only available to people who have already managed to leave Afghanistan and were announced with little time for Afghans to apply.
