President Biden has tonight sought to
defend the manner of the u.s withdrawal from Afghanistan after chaotic scenes
at Kabul airport as desperate Afghans tried to flee the country following the
Taliban's takeover of people crowded around departing aircraft and some even
clung on as the planes took off several are reported to have been killed u.s
and u.k troops are engaged in evacuating their citizens while the international community tries to define its response to the Taliban's lightning-speed
victory. The Taliban back in charge will it be 2001 all over again it's 20
years, since the Taliban was toppled by us, blamed them after 911 for harboring
Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures the Taliban have changed since
the last being in power back then they established sharia law and denied rights
to women.
President Biden's speech in a moment
report tonight is from u.s military plane desperate some afghans are to leave
the country a handful tragically clinging on even after takeoff before falling
to their deaths, foreign nationals and some afghans are being evacuated huge
crowds gathered after rumors even those without visas could
travel outside the airport even more chaos Taliban members firing in
the air to assert their authority trying to keep control despite the dangers
some residents still risking their lives to try and get inside the group has
promised an amnesty to those with links to the government still fear
they'll be targeted by the militants inside the airport American forces fired
into the air too u.s officials claimed two armed Afghans have killed an eyewitness
told the victims were ordinary people saw with my eye three people there
are more people in a bad situation and people are in chaos no one is quite
in Afghanistan, though it's the Taliban who are in charge, their members are out
in force patrolling in vehicles seized from government security forces we're
preventing looters and thieves from harming the people say this fighter the group has also reportedly been demanding all weapons are handed over to them
the unraveling of the state has come at a pace many are still struggling to
comprehend.
Our current military mission will be short in time and focused in its objectives:
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 17, 2021
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.
The Taliban who decide that direction
the country takes Islamic a government so by that we mean all other Afghans
have also participated in that a government so of course, that needs a little
bit of time and deliberation and talks the terror and panic at the
airport lending to two decades of international efforts to rebuild this
country for all its fractures scared of the bullets which Taliban
firing towards them to disperse them and could see the desperation and the
anxiety on their faces that they just want to fly out of this country even they
didn't have any travel documents like passport and tickets and in the city
center the atmosphere well in the city center this afternoon some saw
patrolling Taliban patrolling in those vehicles which were provided by two of
one force lately and they were there and they were controlling the traffic and
they have taken over all the official buildings.
He did acknowledge that events there
had unfolded more quickly than anticipated and north sudden capture of the
country's capital has shocked the world the political bent of the network the
Taliban has taken over Afghanistan seizing control of Kabul brutal the Biden administration is redefining the word incompetence as an epic humiliation of u.s foreign
policy a woeful mishandling by President Biden.
We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on September 11, 2001—and make sure al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2021
We did that—a decade ago.
Our mission was never supposed to be nation building.
The president said a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was
highly unlikely and given joe Biden had little choice to cut short
his vacation and return to Washington by helicopter he was unrepentant
stand squarely behind the decision after 20 years the hard way that there was
never a good time to withdraw from u.s forces I always promised the American
people that I will be straight with you the truth is this did unfold more
quickly than we had anticipated and he shifted the blame firmly on Afghanistan
leaders and their military we gave them every tool they could need we paid
their salaries provided for the maintenance of their air force we gave them
every chance to determine their own future and then he posed this question is
left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay the hurried evacuation
of the u.s embassy caught everyone by surprise and has unleashed a torrent of
criticism it seems the Biden administration again has no plan it has created
another crisis in Afghanistan where it didn't need to be at the end of the day
this is about leadership and how we are removing ourselves and withdrawing from
Afghanistan occur what do we want when doing we want it and outside the white
house there have been protests from pro-afghan groups this woman served two
tours of duty in Afghanistan with the u.s air.
The anguish is deep among former afghan
nationals they anymore about Afghanistan important as we were back in 2000
that's the reason. The Taliban is likely to govern this time and the world
might engage with the step by step return to rule ever since the Taliban
signed a deal last year with the u.s the old enemy they've been emboldened
moments this started to raise their international profile in recent months are
their flags hoisted on the ground district by the district they won the fight
against Afghan troops and in many places they walked in not because they were
strong the government.
The leaders and those guys and
that government were much responsible for this fight because they didn't stand
up by their own people they didn't take in ruler areas into confidence ruled
people into confidence they took the money and they went away and
that's the reason that many people lost confidence in them these alleged abuses
and atrocities to those who fear the return of the Taliban they should not fear
they should not be fair because the government which is which will come after this
will be acceptable to all of Venezuela Taliban the rule returns to
an Afghanistan dramatically different from the one they governed so harshly in
the late 1990s.
The past two decades no one expecting
their lives could be so suddenly shattered afghans especially women fearing
they will lose everything they gained speaking for millions of afghan girls and
women are about to lose their freedom to go to school to work and to participate
in the political-economic and social life of the country and Afghanistan's
neighbors are anxious too the fate of this landlocked country affects them all
to the north-central Asian states.
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