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WASHINGTON – Speaking to the nation, defensive President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the U.S. military airlift to extract more than 120,000 Afghans, Americans and other allies to end a 20-year war an “An extraordinary success”, although more than 100 Americans and thousands of Afghans seek to leave remain.
Twenty-four hours after the last US C-17 cargo plane left Kabul, Biden has vigorously defended his decision to end America’s longest war and withdraw all US troops before the August 31 deadline. .
“I was not going to prolong this war forever”, Biden said in a remarks from the White House State Dining Room. “And I wasn’t going to extend an outing forever.”
Biden faced tough questions about how the United States left Afghanistan – a chaotic evacuation and spasms of violence, including a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. servicemen and 169 Afghans.
It has come under heavy criticism, especially from Republicans, for its handling of the evacuation, despite having managed to airlift more than 120,000 people from Kabul airport.
But he said it was inevitable that the final start of two decades of war would be difficult with likely violence, no matter when it was planned and carried out.
“To those who ask for a third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask, ‘What is the vital national interest? “” Biden said. He added, “I just don’t believe America’s safety and security is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spend billions of dollars in Afghanistan.”
In addition to all the questions at home, Biden is also adjusting to a new relationship with the Taliban, the militant Islamist group that the United States toppled after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and which is back in power in Afghanistan.
The last Air Force transport plane left Kabul a minute before midnight on Monday, raising questions about why Biden did not continue the airlift for at least another day. He had set Tuesday as the deadline to end the evacuation and withdraw the troops remaining after the takeover of the country by the Taliban.
In a written statement on Monday, Biden said military commanders were unanimously in favor of ending the airlift instead of extending it. He said he asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to coordinate with international partners to force the Taliban to honor their promise of safe passage for Americans and others who wish to leave in the days to come.
Blinken estimated the number of Americans still in Afghanistan at less than 200, “probably closer to 100”, and said the State Department would continue to work to get them out. He said the US diplomatic presence would move to Doha, Qatar.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said on Tuesday of efforts to get the remaining Americans out: “It’s just that he went from a military mission to a diplomatic mission.” On ABC “Hello America,” he quoted “A considerable leverage effect” on the Taliban to carry out this effort.
The closing hours of the evacuation were marked by an extraordinary tragedy. US troops faced the daunting task of getting the last evacuees onto planes while getting rid of themselves and some of their equipment, even as they watched for repeated threats – and at least two real attacks – by the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group. A suicide bombing on August 26 killed 13 US servicemen and some 180 Afghans. Others died in various incidents during the evacuation of the airport.
The final withdrawal fulfilled Biden’s pledge to end what he called a “eternal war” which began in response to the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington and rural Pennsylvania. His decision, announced in April, reflected national fatigue in the face of the Afghan conflict.
According to Biden, the war could have ended 10 years ago with the American murder of Osama bin Laden, whose extremist al-Qaida network planned and executed the 9/11 plot from an Afghan sanctuary. Al-Qaida has been drastically curtailed, so far preventing it from attacking the United States again.
Congressional committees, whose interest in the war has waned over the years, are expected to hold public hearings on what went wrong in the final months of the US withdrawal. Why, for example, did the administration not earlier begin the evacuation of American citizens as well as Afghans who had contributed to the American war effort?
Minority Parliamentary Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., On Tuesday described the Biden administration’s handling of the evacuation as “probably the biggest failure of the US government on a military stage of my life” and promised Republicans would pressure the White House for answers on what was wrong.
“We can never make this mistake again” McCarthy said.
A group of Republican lawmakers gathered on the floor of the House on Tuesday morning and participated in a minute’s silence for the 13 servicemen who were killed in last week’s suicide bombing.
They also called for a House vote on legislation from Representative Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Who, among other things, would require the administration to submit a report on the number of Americans remaining in Afghanistan as well as the number of Afghans who had applied for a category of visas reserved for those employed by or on behalf of the US government.
GOP lawmakers took issue with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Suspended the House and then gathered for a press conference to denounce the administration.
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