Joe Biden: history will record his move to withdraw of US Troops from Afghanistan as a logical, rational and right decision
Washington: US President Joe Biden said history will record his move to withdraw of US Troops from Afghanistan as a logical, rational and right decision. Interacting with the media person on Sunday at White House, Biden defended his move to withdraw of US Troops from Afghanistan amid deepening crisis in Afghanistan.
Taliban has said we will see whether they mean it or not they’re seeking legitimacy. They’re seeking legitimacy to determine whether or not they will be recognized by other countries. They have told other countries, as well as us, they don’t want us to move our diplomatic presence completely. All of this is all just talk now, said Biden.
He said that so far the Taliban has not taken action against US forces, by and large following through what they said in terms of allowing Americans to pass through, and the like. I’m sure they don’t control all of their forces. It’s a ragtag force. And so, we’ll see. We’ll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true, he said.
Biden said that in a 36 hour span, the US has lifted about 11K people out of Kabul. In a little over 30 hours this weekend, we’ve evacuated an extraordinary number of people, as I will detail in a minute: about 11K individuals. That number will change day to day as the air and ground operations in Kabul vary, he said.
The first priority is getting American citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible, he said. At my direction, the State Department continues to reach out to the remaining Americans we have identified by phone, e-mail, and other means to ascertain their whereabouts and their plans, he added.
The US is also evacuating the citizens of NATO allies and its partners, including their diplomats, their embassy staff who remain in Afghanistan and to get them back to their homes as well, he said. As we do this, we’re also working to move our Afghan allies, who stood with us side by side, and other vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders and journalists, out of the country, he added.
As of this morning, we have evacuated nearly 28K people since August the 14th, on both U.S. and coalition aircraft, including civilian charters, bringing the total number of people we have evacuated since July to approximately 33K persons, he said.