In the address, Biden provided additional insight on his criticized decisions to follow through with the U.S. withdrawal and not extend the Aug. 31 deadline. His “fundamental obligation” as president, he said, is “to defend and protect America.”
“Not against threats of 2001 but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan,” he said.
He also said that the U.S. reached its goals in Afghanistan over a decade ago, and pulling the troops out would end “an era of major military operations to remake other countries.”
Since the mass airlift began on August 14, the U.S. evacuated around 120,000 U.S. citizens, Afghans and foreigners, Biden said. Despite Aug. 31 passing, he asserted that “there is no deadline” for the U.S. to help remaining people from those groups leave the country.
Biden was harshly criticized for the chaotic nature of the withdrawal, as well as the deaths of U.S. service members and civilians sustained during attacks from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) near the Kabul airport. While he expressed condolences to the families of service members killed or injured during the mission, he “respectfully” disagrees with critics claiming that evacuations should have started sooner and could have been done in a more orderly manner.
“Imagine if we begun evacuations in June or July, bringing in thousands of American troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. There still would have been a rush to the airport, a break down in confidence and control of the government and still would have been very difficult and dangerous mission,” Biden said.
“The bottom line is there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced,” he continued.
He concluded his speech by reiterating his belief that the decision to pull American troops was the “right decision, the wise decision and the best decision for America.”
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He added that the decision to withdraw from the country rather than mobilizing many more troops to combat the growing power of the Taliban was also about putting a stop to “an era of major military operations to remake other countries.”
“We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan, getting the terrorists and stopping attacks, morph into a counterinsurgency, nation-building, trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and united Afghanistan, something that has never been done over many centuries of Afghanistan’s history. Moving on from that mindset and those kind of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home,” he said.
He concluded his speech by reiterating his belief that the decision to pull American troops was the “right decision, the wise decision and the best decision for America.”
“Twenty service members were wounded in the service of this mission. Thirteen heroes gave their lives,” Biden said.
“We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay, but we should never, ever, ever forget,” he continued.
“Not against threats of 2001 but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan,” he said.
“When I was running for president, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. Today I’ve honored that commitment,” Biden continued.
Biden also said that he “respectfully” disagrees with critics claiming that evacuations should have started sooner and could have been done in a more orderly manner. There “still would have been a rush to the airport” even if the U.S. began earlier, he stated.
“Imagine if we begun evacuations in June or July, bringing in thousands of American troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. There still would have been a rush to the airport, a break down in confidence and control of the government and still would have been very difficult and dangerous mission,” Biden said.
“The bottom line is there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced. None,” he continued.
The U.S. airlift ultimately helped 5,500 Americans out of Afghanistan, while some, including dual citizens, decided to stay. However, he vowed that the U.S. would aid any American, Afghan ally of the U.S. or foreign national to leave if they changed their minds despite the Aug. 31 deadline passing.
ISIS on its official news outlet claimed responsibility for the believed suicide bomber attack near the Kabul airport last week that killed 13 U.S. service members and more civilians. However, Biden spoke of terror threats spreading and strengthening in other parts of the world that the U.S. hoped to combat rather than remaining concentrated in Afghanistan.
“As commander in chief, I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today,” Biden said.
The figures were based on research and estimates from Brown University, Biden said.
“What have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities?” Biden asked. “I refuse to continue a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of our people.”
“You will pay the ultimate price,” he said.
He also pledged to hunt down terrorists “to the ends of the earth.”
Despite the U.S. succeeding, “we stayed for another decade” and “it was time to end this war,” Biden said
“I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars a year in Afghanistan,” he added.
“And that’s what it did,” he said.
“That was the choice, the real choice between leaving or escalating,” Biden said.
For the remaining Americans, Afghan partners and foreign nationals, “there is no deadline” for the U.S. to help them out, Biden said.
“We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out,” he added.
This is “more than double what most experts thought were possible,” he said.
He thanked the U.S service members and commanders who made the airlift possible and ended “the longest war in American history.”
