President Joe Biden is returning to the White House from Camp David on Monday to address the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. On Saturday, he released a statement explaining that he had “authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. personnel and other allied personnel, and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.”
”When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. Forces,” Biden said. “I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan—two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.”
The briefing will be streamed on the White House Youtube channel.
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:05:48 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
“Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. …. It was about preventing another attack in the U.S.” Talks about the intelligence capacity we now have and says U.S. will act quickly and decisively.
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:07:43 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
Reminds that he had just two choices after inheriting the agreement Trump had made—leave or keep fighting the Taliban—“sending thousands of Americans back into the conflict.” He says “I stand firmly behind my decision.” 20 years of experience watching this has convinced him that this was the right course. He concedes “This did unfold more quickly than we predicted.”
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:10:19 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
“It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistans own armed forces won’t.” Says American troops have been “bearing the brunt of the fight” for Afghans.
"We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them the will to fight for their future."
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:14:28 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
What is possible in Afghanistan? We will continue to support the people, will continue to speak out for human rights and support human rights efforts with partners. “We will support the Afghan people with diplomacy, aid, and support for human rights.”
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:20:53 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
"I am President of the United States of America. and the buck stops with me. I'm deeply saddened by the facts we now face. But I do not regret my decision to end America's war fighting in Afghanistan." He’s repeated this theme multiple times.
Monday, Aug 16, 2021 · 8:28:03 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
Key element on the chaos created this weekend: "Afghan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed some time without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforce that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision."