Biden stands behind decision to withdraw from Afghanistan

U.S. President Joe Biden said he stands behind  his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in a speech today at the White House.

 

Biden: “I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces…

Biden: “The truth is this did unfold more quickly than we anticipated. So what happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometime without trying to fight. If anything the developments of the past week reinforce that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.

Biden: “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.”

 

 

The president said the United States’ will maintain evacuation operations currently underway and focus on counter-terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere.