Afghanistan: Biden defends withdrawal as Taliban rejoice

President Biden on Tuesday once again defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. A decision that brought the Taliban back to power in under 10 days of the second phase of their offensive.

Biden addressed the nation a day after the US marked the end of its longest war.

In it he praised the troops for arranging the US military’s biggest non-combatant withdrawal, where they evacuated over 79,000 people and over 117,000 if we combine the coalition numbers.

The people who were part of the evacuation process were those wishing to flee the Taliban regime in fear of persecution.

Biden was criticized at home for the hasty withdrawal that led to the fall of Afghanistan and the horrific situation at the airport.

When videos and images emerged online, showing the dire situation at the Kabul airport, Americans and people throughout the World were left heartbroken.

To regain control of the airport that was overrun by desperate Afghans and to help in the evacuations, President Biden deployed over 5,500 troops.

But the move to redeploy troops was criticized by many as all this could have been avoided if the US had control over the Bagram airbase.

No one understood why Bagram was left before the evacuation process.

Biden however, in his address strongly defended his decision. He reiterated that the forever war is over.

“The war in Afghanistan, is over,” President Biden said.

In the past, he had announced that he won’t let this war go to a fifth President, and his claim might help him politically for having kept his promise.

But many would never be able to forget the events that took place at the airport because of a decision he took and his Administration’s miscalculation to leave the Bagram airbase.

The evacuations also caused 13 US service members to lose their lives in the line of duty.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the Abbey Gate on Thursday, resulting in 13 US service members to lose their lives and killing over 180 Afghans.

ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack and the US retaliated by targeting their assets and fighters.

Biden announcing the response said “we will not forgive, we will not forget,” in an address that projected what every American felt.

Before the attack, Afghans were time and again told not to come to the airport but their desperation made them ignore the calls. They unintentionally ended up endangering their own lives and the lives of those brave men and women trying to save them.

The mission to evacuate civilians could not get all Americans out, and over 150 are still stuck inside the country.

President Biden has promised to get those who are still in Afghanistan out of the country, even though the mission is over.

Their fate is now in the hands of a supposed deal made between the US, World and the Taliban. Whether the promises made in the deal are kept is to be seen.

Biden in his address also accused the Afghan leaders to be corrupt, raising questions on where the money given to them went.

Hundreds of billions of dollars were given to the Afghan government and the Afghan military, and when the time came their men dropped arms and fled.

Leaving millions of rounds of ammunition, state of the art weapons and armor, anti-mine vehicles, a helicopter, etc., for the Taliban to take along with the territory and lives of many that were lost in the chain of events.

Regardless of the amount of criticism Biden has received, Americans support his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

But that doesn’t mean they support the President.

President Biden’s decision to hastily evacuate from Afghanistan will probably be the highlight of his legacy that is already marred with crisis after crisis.

The average American will support the decision as he or she never wanted to be part of any foreign wars.

But the damage caused by the President’s decision will forever stain his legacy in front of the policy makers, critics, allies and the World.

People are also raising questions on the credibility of his security team.

Sec. Blinken had infamously said he had talked to “Afghan President Hamid Karzai,” giving rise to jokes of him talking to the wrong man who hasn’t been in power since 2014.

Blinken has also been asked to resign over the Afghan debacle that no one is sure why the Administration didn’t see coming.

Afghanistan’s future:

What’s next for Afghanistan you may wonder? The Taliban have claimed victory and are set to announce their government.

Whether that government is recognized depends on the decisions they make and whether they keep their promises.

But some spoilers may have a big role in defending the Taliban if they turn on their promises. Recognizing and siding with them no matter what they do.

China and Russia have already shown interest in recognizing the Taliban government, and following them would be neighboring Pakistan, long accused of supporting the Taliban.

Russia however, might hesitate in the end but China, eyeing the Afghan metal riches will do whatever it can to appease the Taliban.

China has already given a to-do list to the Taliban, to go after the Uyghur minority in Afghanistan, which China fears may come for it in Xinjiang.

This may be the end of the War in Afghanistan but the US has to maintain a presence inside the country and not allow China spur up human-rights violations and sponsor extrajudicial killings and punishments.

President Biden has a lot more to do inside Afghanistan and in the region to certify collective protection and security.