President Joe Biden on Monday defended his decision to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan despite the swift Taliban takeover of the country and chaotic scenes unfolding in its capital of Kabul as people crowd the airport in an effort to flee.
In his first comments since the Taliban victory, Biden admitted the Taliban advance had unfolded more quickly than expected.
But he heaped criticism on Ghani’s government, insisted he had no regrets and emphasised US troops could not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”.
"I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me," he said.
"I am deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision."
“We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,”
Though Biden said he accepted responsibility for how the withdrawal is unfolding, in White House remarks he largely blamed the Afghan military for not standing and fighting against the Taliban as well as Afghan political leaders for fleeing.
“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.” Biden said in his address at the White House.
The fast collapse of the Afghan government and the lack of a fight from the Afghan military, Biden said, reinforced his decision to leave — and that a military solution to a secure and stable Afghanistan didn't exist.
"There was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces," Biden added. "That's why we are still there."
Biden pointed out that going into Afghanistan was about getting those "who attacked us" on 9/11, to make sure al-Qaida and other terror groups can't use Afghanistan as a place from which to attack the U.S. again.
He noted that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed a decade ago and that the mission was "never supposed to be nation-building" or "creating a unified, centralized democracy."
The goal, he said, was "preventing a terrorist attack on the American homeland" and the mission needs to be "narrowly focused on counterterrorism."
That is something Biden has been saying for more than a decade since he was former President Barack Obama's vice president.
Biden added that the U.S. needs to "face threats of today," "not yesterday's."
Biden took no questions from reporters after his remarks and then returned to Camp David.
He acknowledged that the scenes on the ground are "gut-wrenching" for U.S. veterans and aid workers who spent years serving and working in Afghanistan.
"For those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and for Americans who have fought and served in the country, this is deeply, deeply personal," he said.
Let for them to decide their future. No one can do it for them after 20 years of protecting them to decide.
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