On Tuesday, President Biden reaffirmed his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in his fourth and final speech in front of world leaders at the United Nations Assembly.
“When I came to office as president, Afghanistan had replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war,” Biden said. “I was determined to end it, and I did. It was a hard decision but the right decision.”
The precipitous U.S. evacuation resulted in chaotic scenes emerging from Kabul, as Afghans scrambled to flee the country before the surging Taliban regained power.
“It was a hard decision but the right decision,” Biden declared.
“Four American presidents had faced that decision. But I was determined not to leave it to the fifth.”
Amid the ensuing chaos, 13 American service members were killed in an ISIS suicide bomb attack that also took the lives of nearly 200 others.
Biden defended his decision while recognizing the sacrifices made.
“It was a decision accompanied by tragedy,” he said. “13 brave Americans lost their lives along with hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bomb. I think about those lost lives every day.”
The Abbey Gate bombing is widely acknowledged to be one of the Biden-Harris administration’s most glaring failures. Upon a complete U.S. exit, the Taliban immediately reinserted itself as the ruling body of Afghanistan for the first time since 9/11.
“The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals,” Biden said at the time.
The frantic withdrawal was capped by an erroneous drone strike intended for ISIS militants that the Pentagon now refers to as a “tragic mistake.”
“I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command reported. “Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K, or a direct threat to U.S. forces.”
“I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in a tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago,” said Biden in justifying his decision.
Soon after, Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Al-Qaeda, “was living openly and freely in downtown Kabul”, according to the findings of House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans, before being eliminated in the summer of 2022.
Al-Zawahiri was “actively encouraging his followers to plot and plan attacks against American interests in the American homeland,” according to then-Defense Department Spokesperson Rear Admiral John Kirby.
“When Kabul fell, many drew comparisons to Saigon as, once again, U.S. helicopters were ferrying Americans off a U.S. embassy, abandoning longtime allies,” the House Foreign Affairs Committee report claimed.
Biden’s speech comes as the world is embroiled in multiple hot wars threatening global stability, including Ukraine staving off further Russian aggression, Israel’s looming confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the seemingly intractable conflict in Sudan among others.