“We are not done with you yet”

This time, there were no tears or lamentations for Afghanistan. Joe biden had a strong and combative tone by formally announcing this Tuesday in a message to the nation that the United States had ended the longest war in its history and firmly defended its decision to withdraw its troops, despite the chaos that had generated on the exit.

In addition, he brought to the council a new vision for U.S. foreign policy: intervene militarily only in places where US security interests are affected and not to rebuild countries.

“It was the best option between going or climbing and I was not going to prolong an eternal war, I was not going to prolong an eternal exit, ”he said in an expected speech at the White House. “We no longer had a target in Afghanistan. It is the right decision, a wise decision and the best decision ”, he assured.

And he promised to continue counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, but without forces on the ground: “ISIS-K, we are not done with you yet ”, He warned and spoke of harsh and “highly targeted” attacks on the terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for Thursday’s Kabul airport bombing, which killed 13 US soldiers and some 170 Afghan civilians. “We will not forget, we will not forgive,” he shouted.

The president was until the last moment weighing every word of his speech with his main security advisers and diplomats and, for this reason, he delayed his presentation by several hours.

Results

It was a difficult challenge: even if that was the message he had aspired to deliver since taking office – that the longest war in U.S. history was drawing to a close – Biden never imagined it would end in this chaotic and bloody way, shrouded in a halo of failure because the Taliban had suddenly returned to power, where it was exactly 20 years ago.

In the latest Afghanistan speech last Thursday, Biden appeared before the cameras head down, in tears and very shocked for the deaths of American soldiers in the bombing of the airport.

This time it was different. His tone rose, of course, away from the whispers that were barely heard last week. He defended himself firmly against the criticisms he had suffered. “I take responsibility for the decision,” he said. “Some say the evacuation could have started earlier, but I respectfully disagree, if it had started, in the midst of a civil war, it would have been worse,” he said.

“To those who ask for a third decade of war, I ask: What is our national interest there? “he is crying.

And there he pointed out that the world changed with different challenges like Chinese competition, cybersecurity, nuclear proliferation and that then the foreign policy of the United States, under his presidency, was going to be different. “We have to set goals that we can achieve. And that they serve our interests ”.

The objective of the speech then was to refocus the message to the Americans: that, despite the setbacks, it was necessary for the United States to leave Afghanistan because this withdrawal is in the interest of national security.

And, further, to point out that, under his presidency, the foreign policy of the United States be guided by national interests American country and security. Nothing to invest the money and blood of soldiers in distant conflicts that have no impact on the citizens.

Support

Paradoxically, it is a kind of “America first(The United States first), the premise of his predecessor, Donald Trump. And a very popular idea, especially in the interior of the country. In fact, it was the former president himself who agreed to step down from Afghanistan in 2020 and Biden has decided to do so.

A recent Pew Research Center poll found that a majority of Americans (54%) approves Biden’s decision withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. But 69% said the country had failed to meet its targets there.

Biden has stressed in recent days that in Afghanistan Osama bin Laden and the threat of Al Qaeda had been eliminated, one of the objectives sought with the offensive launched by the United States. after the attacks of September 11, 2001. But, obviously, the democratization of the country is not complete and the Taliban have returned to power.

Also sought to stop criticism by the chaotic exit from Kabul. “We carried out one of the largest air evacuations in history, with more than 120,000 people safely evacuated. This number is more than double of what most experts have said is possible. No nation has done something like this in all of history, ”he said.

And he promised that the nearly two hundred Americans still in Afghanistan will be evacuated, pero through diplomatic efforts.

PB