US President Biden defends departure from ‘forever war’

Defending his decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan, president Joe Biden on Tuesday said that it was in the US national interest.  "This is the right decision. A wise decision. And the best decision for America," he said. In his first address after the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, Biden called the US military airlift to extract more than 1,20,000 Afghans, Americans and other allies to end a 20-year war an “extraordinary success,” though more than 100 Americans and thousands of Afghans looking to leave remain.

“I was not going to extend this forever war,” “And I was not going to extend a forever exit,” Biden said. To those asking for the third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask, ‘What is the vital national interest?’” Biden said. He added, “I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars in Afghanistan.” Blaming Donald Trump for an agreement with the Taliban, Biden said that when he came to office, the Taliban was in its strongest military position since 2001, controlling of contesting nearly half of the country. "The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1st deadline that they had signed on to leave by, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces, but if we stayed, all bets were off," he said.

Blaming the failure of the Afghan forces, Biden said that we were ready when the Afghan Security Forces — after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own — did not hold on as long as anyone expected. We were ready when they and the people of Afghanistan watched their own government collapse and their president flee amid the corruption and malfeasance, handing over the country to their enemy, the Taliban, and significantly increasing the risk to US personnel and our Allies.