WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – US President Joe Biden has once again defended the country’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan as a “hard but right decision” to end America’s longest war.
In his address to the 59th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, September 24, Mr. Biden said that the US weakened Al-Qaeda and brought the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks to justice.
“When I came to office, Afghanistan had replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war. I was determined to end it. And I did,” Biden said.
“It was a hard decision, but the right decision.”
“Four American presidents had faced that decision but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth,” he added.
In his speech, Mr. Biden also acknowledged the tragedy during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, where 13 US citizens and at least 170 Afghans were killed in an attack near Kabul Airport in August 2021.
Mr. Biden’s remarks come as US Republican politicians, particularly those in Congress, have consistently criticized his administration for its handling of Afghanistan, especially the “chaotic” withdrawal from the country.
The US and NATO military withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the swift collapse of the Western-backed republic government and the subsequent return to power of the Taliban, whom they had fought for two decades.
During the withdrawal process on August 26, a suicide bomb at Kabul airport, later claimed by ISIS-K, killed 13 US service members and at least 170 Afghans who rushed to the airport desperately seeking to board planes and flee the country.
Michael McCaul, the chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, previously described the withdrawal as a “mistake of epic proportions” and an “unconditional surrender to the Taliban.”
Last year, his committee began a thorough investigation into the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that it is essential for transparency and to provide answers for the American people.
Since then, according to the committee, it has conducted at least 18 transcribed interviews with current and former US officials, including retired generals involved in the withdrawal.
Recently, the committee requested the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to appear before it and provide testimony on the matter, highlighting that his role was central and that he was the final decision-maker.
Despite repeated requests, Blinken has not yet appeared before the committee, citing his tight work schedule on important foreign policy objectives as the reason for the delay.
U.S. lawmakers also argue that, contrary to claims made by the Biden administration, the Taliban continue to maintain ties with regional and international terrorist organizations, commit widespread human rights abuses, and misuse humanitarian aid provided by the United States.
