President Joe Biden in his remarks on the completion of US military and diplomatic withdrawal after a 20-year war in Afghanistan disagreed that the drawdown could have been more orderly. Biden vowed ‘no deadline’ to help 100 to 200 Americans who remain stranded, get out of the Taliban-controlled country if they desire.
‘The war in Afghanistan is now over,’ Biden said on Tuesday afternoon, speaking from the White House.
‘I’m the fourth president who has faced the decision of whether and when to end this war. When I was running for president, I made a commitment that I would end this war. Today, I’ve honored that commitment.’
The last US evacuation flight departed Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Monday at 3.29pm ET, which was close to midnight in Afghanistan, meeting the August 31 deadline agreed upon with the Taliban for complete withdrawal.
Since the evacuation mission began on August 14, 6,000 US citizens and more than 123,000 Afghan allies have been airlifted from Kabul. However, 100 to 200 American citizens and thousands of Afghan nationals who worked with the US remain stranded in the country overtaken by the Taliban.
Biden brought up criticisms that the US pull out could have been executed in a more orderly manner.
‘I respectfully disagree,’ Biden said. ‘Imagine if we had 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’ve been a rush to the airport.’
In the two decades that the US held a presence in Afghanistan, 2,461 troops were killed and more than 20,000 were injured, the Pentagon said on Monday.
‘I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision and the best decision for Americans,’ Biden concluded in his remarks. ‘Thank you and may god bless you all and may god protect our troops.’
The president did not take any questions from reporters.
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