President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials were stunned on Sunday by the speed and force of the Taliban’s nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan, with the planned withdrawal of American troops turning into an urgent mission to secure a safe evacuation.
As early as in July, Biden made a now-viral statement suggesting the Taliban was very unlikely to take over the country. “The jury is still out, but the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely,” he said at a July 8 press conference.
According to CNBS, U.S. defense officials reportedly expected Kabul to fall in 90 days. It took less than 10 days, clearly indicating a grand miscalculation. President Ghani of Afganistan has fled the country, and the military has surrendered to the Taliban without a fight.
During a Monday address following the Taliban's Afghanistan takeover, President Joe Biden reiterated he stands "squarely behind" his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Biden also confirmed that the Afghan government's collapse was quicker than anticipated, ABC reports.
At the same time, Biden said he was faced with a choice of either fulfilling a previously negotiated agreement to withdraw U.S. troops this year or sending thousands of soldiers back into Afghanistan for a "third decade" of war.
"When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. Forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. Forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our Forces and our allies’ Forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict," the White House earlier said in its statement, pinning part of the blame on the previous administration.
President Biden emphasized he would not repeat mistakes of the past and did not regret his decision to proceed with the withdrawal.
"I stand squarely behind my decision," he said in his address, all the while acknowledging a wide criticism of his decision.
As of now, the U.S. priority is a safe evacuation of all Americans and US allies on the ground.
"I know that there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating Afghans — civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier — still hopeful for their country. And part of it was because the Afghan government and its supporters discouraged us from organizing a mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, “a crisis of confidence", Biden responded to the wide criticism of not having had evacuated vulnerable Afghans, especially those who worked for the United States.
The President then concluded, "Our current military mission will be short in time, limited in scope, and focused in its objectives: Get our people and our allies to safety as quickly as possible. And once we have completed this mission, we will conclude our military withdrawal. We will end America’s longest war after 20 long years of bloodshed."