Joe Biden 'squarely behind' decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan

US president Joe Biden stands "squarely behind" his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, and admitted the Taliban's takeover was quicker than anticipated.

Mr Biden said he was faced with a choice of sticking to a previously negotiated agreement to withdraw US troops this year - or send thousands more service members back to Afghanistan for a "third decade" of war.

Mr Biden said he will not repeat mistakes of the past and did not regret his decision to proceed with the withdrawal.

“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Mr Biden said in a televised address to the nation from the White House East Room.

“After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces.”

Mr Biden said he would rather take the criticism over the fallout in Afghanistan than leave the decision to another president. He said the decision to leave Afghanistan is “the right one for America.”

An Afghan woman clad in a burqa walks past Pakistan's paramilitary soldier, as she along with others enter Pakistan via Friendship Gate crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Saeed Ali Achakzai
SAEED ALI ACHAKZAI

Biden said keeping a US presence in Afghanistan was no longer a US national security interest. Mr Biden described the images coming out of Afghanistan — especially at the airport in Kabul, where Afghans descended in hopes of fleeing the country — as “gut-wrenching”.

UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab also admitted he did not seeing the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan coming, adding it will have to engage with them in the future in order to hold them to account for their actions.

Raab said several nations were “caught off-guard” by the quick and hostile nature of the militant group’s takeover, which has prompted Afghans to flee the country.

He added British intelligence had been tracking what was happening on the ground in Afghanistan “very carefully” after the United States decided to reduce its troops in the country. Mr Raab said: “The truth is, across the world, people were caught by surprise. I haven’t spoken to an international interlocutor, including countries in the region over the last week, who hasn’t been surprised.

“We saw a very swift change in the dynamics, and of course this has been part and parcel of the withdrawal of Western troops, but it has also been the way and the approach of the Taliban.

“Of course it’s been a test for the Afghan security forces. All of those factors have been very fluid. But no one saw this coming. Of course we would have taken action if we had.”

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab leaves television studios in central London, Britain, August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
HANNAH MCKAY

Video of Afghans clinging to a US Air Force plane as it prepared to take off had circulated widely on the internet. But he did not admit any US fault in how the drawdown was executed. He acknowledged that the Taliban takeover unfolded faster than had been anticipated. About a month ago, Mr Biden batted away the notion of a rapid Taliban takeover.

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Mr Biden said the US will continue to support the Afghan people, push for regional diplomacy and speak out for the rights of Afghans. Senior US military officials said the chaos at the airport in Kabul left seven people dead on Monday, including some who fell from a departing American military transport jet.

Afghans rushed onto the tarmac as thousands tried to escape after the Taliban seized power. Some clung to the side of a US military plane before take-off, in a widely shared video that captured the desperation as America’s 20-year war comes to a chaotic end. Another video showed the Afghans falling as the plane gained altitude over Kabul.

US troops resorted to firing warning shots and using helicopters to clear a path for transport aircraft. The Pentagon confirmed Monday that US forces shot and killed two individuals it said were armed, as Mr Biden ordered another battalion of troops — about 1,000 — to secure the airfield, which was closed to arrivals and departures for hours Monday because of civilians on the runway.

The speed of the Afghan government’s collapse and the ensuing chaos posed the most serious test of Mr Biden as commander in chief, and he came under withering criticism from Republicans who said he had failed.

Mr Biden expressed confidence in his decision to proceed with the withdrawal and said he was prepared to take the heat. He said he was “deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision”.