U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Monday, August 16, regarding the developments in Afghanistan that have taken place in the last week and the steps that the U.S. is taking to address the rapidly evolving events.
Biden's speech was broadcasted on his official Twitter page.
The head of the White House noted that the U.S. has been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and moving quickly to execute the plans they had put in place to respond to every constituency.
Biden reminded that the prior goal of American presence in Afghanistan was to get those who attacked the U.S. on September 11th, 2001, and make sure al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack again. Thus, this mission “was never supposed to have been nation-building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy” Biden said.
“Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on the American homeland,” Biden added.
According to Biden, another postponed withdrawal of American troops would provoke further escalation, and it was a good decision to withdraw even despite the absence of a ceasefire.
“Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision. 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 stated.
In addition, the head of the White House noted that the U.S. spent over a trillion dollars on Afghanistan.
“We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong — incredibly well equipped — a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies. We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force — something the Taliban doesn’t have. Taliban does not have an air force. We provided close air support. We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future,” Biden said. “And here’s what I believe to my core: It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not,” he concluded.
If American troops remained in Afghanistan, it would result in the escalation of the conflict and would require thousands of additional military personnel.
"Our goal in Afghanistan remains to prevent attacks in the U.S.," Biden stressed.
He recalled that American troops were sent to Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaida, which was responsible for the tragedy of September 11, and this task was completed.
Biden also said that Washington spent more than a trillion dollars to support Afghanistan. He stressed that American soldiers "should not die in a war that Afghan forces do not want to wage".
The U.S., according to its leader, gave the Afghan troops everything they needed, but could not provide the will to win - the country's leaders escaped and the army collapsed. Despite this, Biden assured that the United States would continue to support the Afghan people and promote regional diplomacy.
To conclude, Biden stated that the U.S. will continue to support the Afghan people, leading with its diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid.
“We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability. We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the Afghan people — of women and girls — just as we speak out all over the world.I have been clear that human rights must be the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery. But the way to do it is not through endless military deployments; it’s with our diplomacy, our economic tools, and rallying the world to join us,” Biden concluded.