'Logical, rational and right decision': Biden continues to defend US pullout as situation deteriorates in Afghanistan
Taliban made a lightning victory over Afghanistan as the terrorist group seized control of Kabul last weekend amid the withdrawal of foreign troops.
US President Joe Biden on Sunday once again defended his decision to pull out American troops from Afghanistan amid the continuous backlash over his decision and said that history will record this as "a logical, rational and right decision."
Taliban made a lightning victory over Afghanistan as the terrorist group seized control of Kabul last weekend amid the withdrawal of foreign troops. This led to massive chaos in the country and the deaths of several residents seeking to flee Afghanistan. Biden and his administration have also come under backlash for not strategising well to prevent the fallout and causing a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
Both Republicans and Democrats have criticised Biden and suggested that his adamant decision to pull out from Afghanistan and disregard concerns that the Taliban was quickly advancing across Afghanistan created a humanitarian disaster.
Former US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley criticised Biden earlier in the day, saying, "the US administration has surrendered the American people and actually withdrew our troops before they withdrew the American people." "They have abandoned our Afghan allies who kept people like my husband safe while they were overseas deploying. So, no, there was no negotiating. This was a complete and total surrender and an embarrassing failure," she added.
Meanwhile, Biden has rejected the uproar and stood by his decision. During Sunday's press conference as well, Biden reiterated it was the time to leave Afghanistan and there wasn't a way to evacuate people without chaos. "There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and the heartbreaking images you see, it’s just a fact. My heart aches for those people you see. At the end of the day, if we didn't leave Afghanistan now, when would we?" he said.
The US president also warned that with the Taliban now controlling the country, there is a threat of ISIS and its Afgan affiliate known as ISIS-K. "We know that terrorists may seek to exploit the situation and target innocent Afghans or American troops. We’re maintaining constant vigilance to monitor and disrupt threats from any source, including ISIS, ISIS-K," Biden also said at the White House.