Biden defends withdrawal, says US gave Afghans 'every chance to determine' future

Biden defends withdrawal, says US gave Afghans 'every chance to determine' future

'We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,' US president says after rapid collapse of Afghan government

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Joe Biden on Monday defended his decision to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan, saying the US gave Afghans "every chance to determine their own future."

"We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future," the president said at the White House. "If Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now there is no chance that one more year, five more years, or 20 more years, US military boots on the ground would have made any difference.”

Biden acknowledged his administration was caught off guard by the rapid deterioration of the Afghan military, but said he was confronted by a decision of whether to either follow through on an agreement former President Donald Trump made with the Taliban to pull out all American forces, or dramatically increase the number of US forces there.

"There was no status quo of stability without American casualties after May 1. There was only the core reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces, or escalating the conflict, and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan, lurching into the third decade of conflict,” he said.

Following dizzying advances across Afghanistan, the Taliban entered the capital Kabul on Sunday, taking control of the country for the first time in almost 20 years.



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