New Delhi: Amid sharp criticism over the tumultuous US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden called the decision "right and wise" in his address to the nation on Tuesday
Joe Biden said that withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan to end the 20-year war was absolutely the correct decision for America.
He said there was no reason to continue in a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of the American people.
"I give you my word: With all of my heart, I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America", Biden said in his address from the White House on Tuesday, quoted Reuters.
Biden blames Trump for agreement with the Taliban
Biden blamed the previous US President Donald Trump for an agreement with the Taliban and said that when he came to office, the Taliban was in its strongest military position since 2001, controlling of contesting nearly half of the country.
"The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1st deadline that they had signed on to leave by, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces, but if we stayed, all bets were off," he said.
"My predecessor, the former President, signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove U.S. troops by May the 1st, just months after I was inaugurated. It included no requirement that the Taliban work out a cooperative governing arrangement with the Afghan government, but it did authorize the release of 5,000 prisoners last year, including some of the Taliban’s top war commanders, among those who just took control of Afghanistan," Biden said, as quoted by Reuters.
Maybe it's because of my deceased sone who wanted to stop the war: Biden
"We've been a nation too long at war. If you're 20 years old today, you have never known an America at peace. So, when I hear that we could've, should've continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan, at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don't think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1 percent of this country who put that uniform on, who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. Maybe it’s because my deceased son, Beau, served in Iraq for a full year, before that. Well, maybe it’s because of what I’ve seen over the years as senator, vice president, and president traveling these countries, he said.
Telling his fellow Americans that the war in Afghanistan is now over, Biden said he is the fourth President who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war.
"When I was running for President, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. And today, I've honored that commitment. It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan", he said.
Refuse to continue a war that is not in the interest of US citizens: Biden
After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago, Biden added.
After more than USD 2 trillion spent in Afghanistan -- a cost that researchers at Brown University estimated would be over USD 300 million a day for 20 years in Afghanistan -- for two decades, he said.
If you take the number of USD 1 trillion, as many say, that's still USD 150 million a day for two decades. And what have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities? I refused to continue in a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of our people, he added.
As Commander-in-Chief, I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in a tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago. That's what's in our national interest, the President said.
US is now confronting new challenges: Biden
Biden said that the world is changing and the US is confronted with new challenges.
We're engaged in a serious competition with China. We're dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with Russia. We're confronted with cyberattacks and nuclear proliferation, he said.
We have to shore up America's competitive[ness] to meet these new challenges in the competition for the 21st century. And we can do both: fight terrorism and take on new threats that are here now and will continue to be here in the future, he added.
Biden said, There's nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan. As we turn the page on the foreign policy that has guided our nation the last two decades, we've got to learn from our mistakes.
He said the terror threat has spread across the world, well beyond Afghanistan.
Not done with ISIS-K yet: Biden
The United States, he said, will maintain the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries.
We just don't need to fight a ground war to do it. We have what's called over-the-horizon capabilities, which means we can strike terrorists and targets without American boots on the ground -- or very few, if needed, he said.
We've shown that capacity just in the last week. We struck ISIS-K remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our servicemembers and dozens of innocent Afghans. And to ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet, Biden said, quoted PTI.