U.S. President Joe Biden discusses his ‘Construct Again Higher’ agenda and administration efforts to “decrease prescription drug costs” throughout a speech within the East Room on the White Home in Washington, August 12, 2021.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Saturday that he had accredited extra navy forces to go to Kabul to assist safely draw down the American embassy and take away personnel from Afghanistan.
In a prolonged assertion, Biden defended his determination to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, arguing that Afghan forces needed to combat again in opposition to Taliban fighters sweeping by means of the nation.
“Primarily based on the suggestions of our diplomatic, navy and intelligence groups, I’ve approved the deployment of roughly 5,000 U.S. troops to verify we will have an orderly and protected drawdown of U.S. personnel and different allied personnel,” Biden stated.
A U.S. protection official, talking on situation of anonymity, stated of the 5,000 Biden introduced, 4,000 had been already beforehand introduced. About 1,000 had been newly accredited and can be from the 82nd Airborne Division.
Biden stated his administration had instructed Taliban officers in Qatar that any motion that put U.S. personnel in danger “can be met with a swift and powerful U.S. navy response.”
However he additionally stated an indefinite U.S. navy presence was not an choice.
“Another 12 months, or 5 extra years, of U.S. navy presence wouldn’t have made a distinction if the Afghan navy can’t or won’t maintain its personal nation. And an limitless American presence in the midst of one other nation’s civil battle was not acceptable to me,” Biden added.
The troops may also help the evacuation of some Afghans going by means of a particular visa program.
The State Division has reached out to advocates to request names of Afghans in Kabul who’ve labored with the Individuals and have to be evacuated, two sources acquainted with the matter stated. The checklist may embody journalists and human rights activists.
Biden has set a proper finish to the U.S. navy mission in Afghanistan for Aug. 31 as he seems to be to disengage from a battle that began after al Qaeda attacked the US on Sept. 11, 2001.
Biden’s transfer on Saturday got here amid rising stress to regulate a withdrawal plan that’s producing a few of the harshest criticism of his six months in workplace.
A Twitter publish from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham mirrored a few of the criticism: “If President Biden really has no regrets about his determination to withdraw, then he’s disconnected from actuality on the subject of Afghanistan.”
The Taliban have swept by means of a lot of Afghanistan, capturing a significant metropolis in northern Afghanistan on Saturday and drawing nearer to Kabul, the place Western international locations scrambled to evacuate their residents from the capital.
