Greeva Garg –
Published on: August 17, 2021 09:50 IST
In the last few weeks, Taliban forces rapidly took control pf provincial capitals and eventually descended over Kabul, putting lives of thousands of Afghans at Risk.
As the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the nation’s Ashraf Ghani-led Government collapsed.
The situation became more chaotic after US forces, that have been stationed in Afghanistan for twenty years now, began withdrawing stand-out.
After the Taliban swept forces of Afghanistan under their powers, the United States President Joe Biden ordered for American pull-out from Afghanistan, doubling down on his decision as he fired scorching criticism at the country’s former Western-backed leadership for failing to resist the Taliban.
“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,” Joe Biden said in a televised address from the White House.
President Biden expressed no second thought to comply with the US commitment formulated during the former US President Donald Trump Administration, to withdraw US troops this year.
Joe Biden, resolute in the face of withering criticism of his handling of the situation, said he chose the latter so as not to repeat the past mistakes. He reiterated that he has no regrets upon his decision.
“I am President of the United States of America and the buck stops with me,” Biden said after several days of silence on the momentous developments.
Brushing off criticism that the evacuation is a debacle, he said the priority is to stop a war that had expanded far beyond its initially modest goals of punishing the Taliban for links to Al-Qaeda after 9/11 terrorist attack.
Biden reiterated however that the US national interest in Afghanistan was always principally about preventing terrorist attacks on the US homeland and that America would continue to act quickly and decisively against any terror threat emanating from the country.
“The mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to be nation-building,” President said while commenting against criticism.
As scenes of mayhem unfolded in the Afghan capital, Biden said he was deeply saddened by the turn of events, after Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani failed to prepare nation for civil war under contingency.
However, in the end, President said the US will continue to support the Afghan people with its diplomacy, international influence and humanitarian aid.
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