United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision of pulling out the American troops from Afghanistan and reiterated that it was the "right, wise, and best decision". In his first address since withdrawing American troops from Afghan soil, Biden took a jibe at his predecessor Donald Trump saying he signed an agreement with the Taliban to leave the Afghan soil by May 1. The agreement roughly stated if America left by the deadline, the Taliban won’t attack American forces, otherwise, all bets were off. Biden further said that when he came to power, the Taliban was at its strongest position since 2021 as they were controlling nearly half of the country. The sudden withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan has left several thousand people stranded, who did not want to live under the Taliban regime. Many even fled on planes chartered by allied forces of the US including France, India, and the UK. However, a lot of lives were still left and many were lost in the chaos.
Here are 10 points from Biden’s first speech since US troop withdrawal:
- The US President blamed the Afghanistan government which was toppled in a matter of days by the Taliban saying that the officials flee amidst corruption when the country needed them the most and then defended himself by saying "This is the right decision. A wise decision. And the best decision for America.”
- ”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 to the Taliban.
- He then blamed the Trump administration for cooking up a misjudged agreement with the Taliban, giving them the edge over the security of US personnel and the Afghanistan government.
- “The agreement 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," he said.
- However, he emphasized that the US will still fight against terrorism around the world. "We will maintain the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries. We just don’t need to fight a ground war to do it. We can strike terrorists and targets without American boots on the ground — or very few if needed,” he said.
- Biden also said that America does not take the Taliban for its word but for its action. “We don’t take them by their word alone but by their actions, and we have the leverage to make sure those commitments are met.”
- He discussed the terror threats from around the world that the US faces. We face threats from al-Shabaab in Somalia; al Qaeda affiliates in Syria and the Arabian Peninsula; and ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, and establishing affiliates across Africa and Asia," he said.
- He then talked about the recent bombings that were carried out by the USA on ISIS-K after the terror organization killed American forces in Kabul last week. We struck ISIS-K remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our servicemembers and dozens of innocent Afghans. And to ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet," Biden said.
- Towards the end of his speech, Biden got emotional and talked about his son Beau Biden, who served in the Army in Iraq and died of brain cancer at 46 years of age. Maybe it’s because my deceased son, Beau, served in Iraq for a full year, before that. Well, maybe it’s because of what I’ve seen over the years as senator, vice president, and president traveling these countries," Biden said.
- The Biden administration has come under severe scrutiny from all around the world after pulling out the American forces from Afghanistan in a shabby manner. US withdrawal has come with brutal consequences for Afghan citizens and even the other people including country envoys living there.
