Joe Biden has been criticized for his decision to withdraw Afghan troops. (File photo)
Washington:
Amid an ever-deepening crisis in Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden defended his move to withdraw troops from the country, saying history will record this as a “logical, rational and right decision”.
The Biden administration has been criticized from some quarters for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power, causing chaos and deaths.
However, he stuck to his decision.
“I think history will show that this was the logical, rational and right decision to make,” he told reporters in an interview at the White House.
Indian-American politician and former US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said earlier in the day: “They (the US government) surrendered the American people and withdrew our troops before withdrawing the American people. They have our Afghan allies “let down who kept people like my husband safe while they were abroad. So no, there was no negotiation. This was a complete and total surrender and an embarrassing failure.”
Biden said the Taliban must make a fundamental decision. “Are the Taliban going to try to unite and ensure the well-being of the Afghan people, which no group has ever done before?” he asked.
“And if it does, it’s going to need everything from extra aid, in terms of economic aid, trade and a whole host of things,” he said.
“The Taliban have said – we’ll see if they mean it or not – they’re looking for legitimacy. They’re looking for legitimacy to determine whether or not they’re recognized by other countries. They’ve also told other countries just like us don’t want them that we completely relocate our diplomatic presence. This is all just talk,” the US president said.
He said the Taliban have so far taken no action against US forces, broadly heeding what they said in terms of allowing Americans to advance, and the like.
“I’m sure they don’t have all their troops under control. It’s a ragtag force. And so we’ll see. We’ll see if what they say turns out to be true,” Biden said.
He said the US took about 11,000 people out of Kabul in 36 hours. “In just over 30 hours this weekend, we evacuated an extraordinary number of people, as I will describe in this way: about 11,000 people. That number will change from day to day as air and ground operations in Kabul vary,” he said.
The first priority is to get US citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible, he said.
“At my direction, the State Department continues to contact the remaining Americans we identified by phone, email and other means to ascertain their whereabouts and their plans,” he added.
The US is also evacuating the citizens of NATO allies and its partners, including their diplomats, their embassy staff who remain in Afghanistan and to get them back to their homes as well.
“As we do this, we are also working to get our Afghan allies, who have stood alongside us, and other vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders and journalists, out of the country,” he added.
“This morning, since August 14, we have evacuated nearly 28,000 people on both US and coalition aircraft, including civilian charters, bringing the total number of people we have evacuated since July to approximately 33,000,” he said.
“In a 24-hour period this weekend, 23 U.S. military flights — including 14 C-17s, 9 C-130 flights — departed Kabul with 3,900 passengers. We see no reason why this pace will not be maintained. our army another 35 charter flights with another nearly 4,000 evacuees to other countries taking them out,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
