US President Joe Biden has defended his decision to pull US troops out of Afghanistan, which allowed Taliban militants to regain control. Biden said in a speech to the country a day after the termination of a 20-year US engagement in Afghanistan that staying longer was not an option.
He applauded soldiers for coordinating an airlift of almost 120,000 individuals fleeing the Taliban government. Islamist terrorists have been celebrating what they consider to be a victory.
Biden justifies the decision to pull out US troops in Afghanistan
In the aftermath of the catastrophic 9/11 attacks, US-led soldiers invaded Afghanistan in 2001, overthrowing the Taliban and blaming al-Qaeda, a violent Islamist group operating in the Asian country at the time.
Biden has been harshly chastised - both at home and among his allies - for the hasty departure of US troops, which resulted in the sudden collapse of Afghan security forces that US troops had trained and financed for years. Nearly 6,000 troops were dispatched by the president to assume control of the airport to organize the evacuation of US and allied foreign citizens as well as Afghans who had been working for them.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans flocked to Kabul International Airport in the hopes of catching one of the evacuation planes. In his speech on Tuesday, Biden hailed the soldiers for the large evacuation and pledged to keep working to pull out the remaining 200 Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to return home. However, the US president justified his decision to withdraw, as per the BBC.
Read Also: Donald Trump Calls for US to Invade Afghanistan Again If Taliban Refuse to Return US Weapons
What happens to Americans left in Afghanistan?
A three-year-old American boy and his family are stuck in Afghanistan after the Taliban subjected them to "physical beatings" while attempting to escape the nation before President Joe Biden's August 31 deadline.
After the final flight carrying US soldiers departed Hamid Karzai International Airport at 3:29 p.m. ET on August 30, the child and his family were among the 100 to 200 Americans remaining in the country.
According to a passport obtained by ABC 7, the boy was born near Sacramento and is a United States citizen. His father, a social worker, is in the same situation, just like the rest of his family, whose names the news outlet concels to keep them safe from the Taliban.
ABC 7 discovered late Monday night that the family had joined a group of other Americans trying to flee Afghanistan. Many Americans were unable to make it to Kabul's airport without being physically stopped by the Taliban during the final effort to get them out of the country.
The Cajon Valley Union School District has been coordinating the repatriation of its children and their families with Republican California Representative Darrell Issa, Daily Mail reported. After a member of one of the families informed school authorities that their children would miss the first day of school on August 17, the district learned on August 16 that eight families with children enrolled in the district were attempting to flee Afghanistan.
According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a small number of Americans remain in the war-torn country despite their desire to flee. As opponents blasted Biden for permitting the departure before all Americans were gone, Blinken promised to use diplomacy and influence to get out any Americans, allies, or Afghans who supported the US and wanted to leave while detractors compared those who stayed to hostages.
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