US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that US military personnel enabled the ‘extraordinary success of the mission’ in Afghanistan.
In an address to the nation on Tuesday evening, Biden said thousands of troops and diplomats “risked their lives” to get people on board planes and out of Afghanistan.
Biden hailed the success of the US airlift of more than 120,000 civilians from Afghanistan, a day after the last US troops left the nation.
“One of the largest airlifts in history was done,” Biden remarked.
Biden declared today at a White House press briefing that he would not continue a “forever war” or a “forever exit” by delaying the withdrawal deadline, which had already passed.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said his decision to end the military airlift operations at Kabul airport was “based on a unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisers— the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the service chiefs, and the commanders in the field,”, while he also repeatedly cited an agreement with the Taliban made by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
“My predecessor, the former President, signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove U.S. troops by May the 1st, just months after I was inaugurated. It included no requirement that the Taliban work out a cooperative governing arrangement with the Afghan government, but it did authorize the release of 5,000 prisoners last year, including some of the Taliban’s top war commanders, among those who just took control of Afghanistan, Biden said.
He blamed the “corruption and malfeasance” of the now-toppled Afghan government for the Taliban’s rapid advance, accusing them of provoking the crisis by “handing over the country to their enemy, the Taliban”.
He said that “98 percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave” during the 15-day evacuation mission. 100 to 200 US citizens remain in Afghanistan, with Biden promising: “For the remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to getting them out if they want to get out.”
Biden said the world will hold the Taliban to their pledges to allow safe passage for those wanting to leave Afghanistan in future after a UN Security Council resolution was agreed on Monday warning of consequences if the promise is not kept.
“The Taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on television and radio across Afghanistan, on safe passage for anyone wanting to leave, including those who worked alongside Americans,” Biden said. “We don’t take them by their word alone but by their actions, and we have leverage to make sure those commitments are met”.
(with inputs from agencies)
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