The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden after interrupting his stay at Camp David to return to the White House, had given reasons why American troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, leading to the fall of the South Asian country to the dreaded Taliban insurgents.
This is just as he warned the Taliban insurgents against harming American citizens in Afghanistan saying failure to heed the warning will be met with devastating attacks against the insurgents.
President Biden revealing that the fall of the Afghanistan to the Taliban was out of the blue after which he made a decision to withdraw, he said however that the American troops were withdrawn because the Afghan troops were not willing to fight.
“American troops won’t be fighting a war Afghan forces are not willing to fight.”
Earlier on, Biden had described the Taliban’s takeover as “unlikely” as they had it under control but with the current occurrence, it shows the president was completely cut off guard.
Biden has also pointed accusing fingers at others including Ashraf Ghani, the ousted Afghan president who also fled the country to see out a plan he laid out in the oval office in June in order to prevent the current crisis.
The United States Department reported that about 20,000 Afghans applied for a special immigrant visa to come into the United States.
Later on, the pentagon press secretary John Kirby defended their withdrawal from Kabul saying it was a result of planning failure that resulted to what happened at Hamid Karzai international airport.
On Monday, violence erupted at the airport as crowds were seen on the tarmac seeking for escape from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the city.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden did not just stoutly defend troops’ pullout from Afghanistan, he sent an ominous message to Taliban leaders on Monday.
He warned, “Let the U.S. withdrawal proceed unimpeded or face devastating force.”
He said that if the Taliban attack US personnel, the US will respond with ‘devastating force’ if necessary.
He also said that the response would be swift and decisive.
He said the decision to leave Afghanistan is “the right one for America.”
Biden said the U.S. went to Afghanistan 20 years ago to deal with terrorists threats from Al Qaeda, in the wake of the World Trade Center bombing.
According to him, the mission had been accomplished.
He said keeping a U.S. presence in Afghanistan was no longer in U.S. national security interest.
“US troops shouldn’t be dying in a war Afghan forces aren’t willing to fight for themselves.”
He had spoken during his first news conference in the East Room of the White House.
He maintained he stands by his decision to withdraw his country’s troops from Afghanistan, in spite of the current developments.
Afghanistan has witnessed a gradual takeover of various provincial cities — including Kabul, the country’s capital — by Taliban fighters over the recent weeks, following the withdrawal of US forces.
As of Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan fled the country, and based his decision on the need to “avoid bloodshed”.
“The Taliban have made it to remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out. Taliban have won the judgment of sword and guns and now they are responsible for protecting the countrymen’s honor, wealth and self-esteem,” Ghani had said in a post on his Facebook page.
As many Afghans attempt to flee the country and the US is currently evacuating its troops and other citizens, stakeholders have expressed concern over what the future holds for the south Asian country, since Taliban fighters have taken over.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Biden said his government was aware of the risks associated with the withdrawal of US troops, but maintained that he took the right decision.
According to him, there was no point allowing American military forces die while fighting for the Afghan people, if the citizens of the south Asian country are unwilling to defend themselves.
“I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risks. We planned for every contingency, but I always promised the American people that I would be straight with you,” he said.
“The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So, what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed sometime without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforce that any US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.
“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.”
According to the Biden, the US provided all the necessary resources for the Afghan military force to take its stand, adding that the south Asian country needs to decide what it wants for itself.
“We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force with some 300,000 strong and credibly well-equipped — a force larger in size than many of our military’s NATO allies.
“We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their force — something the Taliban doesn’t have. We provided close air support. We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future.”
