US withdrawal from Afghanistan: Biden defends himself against ever louder criticism

US President Biden has defended his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. But criticism of the uncoordinated approach is not only growing louder among the opposition Republicans.

President Biden has a warning for the Taliban: “If they attack our personnel or interrupt our operation, the answer will come quickly and powerfully,” threatened the president in his televised address yesterday. At the moment, the US military is securing Kabul airport with 2,500 soldiers in order to be able to fly out thousands of US citizens and Afghan local forces after the Taliban took the city on Sunday. In the next few days there should be up to 6,000 soldiers.

The US embassy in Kabul has now been cleared, some of the employees continue their work from the airport and issue visas. Biden, who has been criticized from many sides, says he has no regrets. He stands upright behind his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. After twenty years, he has learned the hard way that there is never a right moment for it. What is more, it is precisely these events that show him that staying in Afghanistan any longer would have been of no use.

But he admitted that the truth was that it all worked out faster than expected. The Afghan leaders have given up and fled the country, said Biden. The army collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. American soldiers could not and should not fight and die in a war that the Afghan army itself does not want to fight.

Criticism of Biden is getting louder

In the US itself, criticism of Biden is growing louder, in front of Republicans and Democrats. Why the government did not start in time to issue visas to Afghan local staff and bring them to safety is an often heard accusation. “What we have seen is a complete disaster,” said Mitch McConnell, the head of the Republicans in the Senate, which was a stain on the good reputation of the United States.

In his opinion, there was no reason to end the mission now. The US, for example, has been stationed in Germany, Japan and South Korea for more than half a century, McConnell said. Others pointed out that senators from both parties had unsuccessfully asked the government for details of their withdrawal plan.

Ben Sasse of the Republicans was furious that Biden apparently blamed the Afghans for the Taliban’s success. Sasse said he was attacking the Afghan people standing on the edge of this airport because the US had promised them security: “They fought with us and we said they were safe”. The government has undermined the confidence of these fighters.

As big as the criticism is, the trigger itself is rarely questioned, possibly also with a view to the mood in the USA. In opinion polls, the majority of the US citizens questioned were so far in favor of bringing the soldiers back from Afghanistan.