Picture : Twitter / ANI
Facing flak over the Afghanistan policy, United States President Joe Biden said that he stands “squarely behind his decision” to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan as he blamed the Afghan leadership for giving in to the Taliban without any fight.
He also warned the Taliban of swift and forceful response from the US if they attack American personnel or disrupt their operations in Afghanistan.
He said if the Taliban interfered with the US military’s evacuation operations in Afghanistan, the US would respond with devastating force.
“As we carry out this departure, we have made it clear to the Taliban, if they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the US presence will be swift, and the response will be swift and forceful,” Biden said in his address to the nation.
“We will defend our people with devastating force if necessary. Our current military mission was short in time, limited in scope, and focused on its objectives: get our people and our allies as safely and as quickly as possible,” he said.
Biden described the images coming out of Afghanistan as “gut-wrenching”.
“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 will be straight with you,” Biden said in his address to the nation.
“The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So, what happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision,” the US president said.
