[Mr. Biden appeared intent on forcefully rejecting criticism of the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, offering a defensive recounting of his decision-making and blaming former President Donald J. Trump for negotiating a bad deal with the Taliban that boxed Mr. Biden and his team in.]
By Michael D. Shear and Jim Tankersley
Speaking
from the Cross Hall at the White House, Mr. Biden said
the nation owed a debt of gratitude to the troops who died in the evacuation
mission.
“Thirteen
heroes gave their lives,” he said in a speech in which he offered no apologies
for either his decision to end the war or the way in which his administration
executed that mission. “We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we
can never repay, but we should never, ever, ever forget.”
Mr.
Biden appeared intent on forcefully rejecting criticism of the end of the
20-year war in Afghanistan,
offering a defensive recounting of his decision-making and blaming former
President Donald J. Trump for negotiating a bad deal with the Taliban that
boxed Mr. Biden and his team in.
“That
was the choice, the real choice between leaving or escalating,” Mr. Biden
declared, his tone angry and defensive as he opened the first minutes of his
remarks. “I was not going to extend this forever war.”
Before
Mr. Biden’s speech, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, had said the
president would “lay out his decision to end the war in Afghanistan after 20
years, including the tough decisions he made over the last seven months since
he took office to bring the war to a close. He will make clear that as
president, he will approach our foreign policy through the prism of what is in
our national interests, including how best to continue to keep the American
people safe.”
Ms.
Psaki also said that the president would thank commanders and service members
“who executed a dangerous mission in Kabul and airlifted more than 124,000
people to safety; he will also offer thanks to the veterans and volunteers who
supported this effort.”
The
president delivered his remarks almost 20 years after the United States ousted
the Taliban from power in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, and just a day
after the last American troops and diplomats departed the country, which is
once again under Taliban rule.
Mr.
Biden pointedly did not announce the news on Monday that the final transport
plane carrying American forces had left Afghanistan, leaving that instead to
Pentagon officials who briefed reporters after the plane had left Afghan
airspace. On Sunday, he declined to answer a question about Afghanistan from a
reporter following his trip to Dover Air Force Base, in Delaware, to witness
the transfer of the remains of 13 American service
members killed in a bombing attack at the Kabul airport last week, the
final U.S. casualties of the war.
Mr.
Biden’s speech comes as White House officials are hoping to wind down a
difficult episode for his presidency, and focus instead on domestic crises at
hand — including the ongoing Delta variant wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and
the aftermath of Hurricane Ida’s destructive path through the Gulf Coast.
The
president is also expected to pivot in the days and weeks ahead toward a push
in Congress next month to pass key provisions of the president’s
multi-trillion-dollar economic agenda, including major spending on
infrastructure and social services.
For
more than two weeks, the rushed exit of troops from Afghanistan, and the chaos
and violence around the airport, have diverted the White House from the
president’s domestic agenda.
Afghanistan,
Biden and the Taliban
With
U.S. forces out, the Taliban take Kabul’s airport.
To
avert a migration wave, the E.U. says it will help refugees in Afghanistan and
neighboring nations.
With
Afghanistan fully controlled by the Taliban, daunting challenges lie ahead.
The
U.S. faces a series of dilemmas in dealing with a Taliban government.
In
a final blow of the 20-year war, U.S. envoys close their embassy and exit
Kabul.
Inside
Kabul airport, the last American soldier leaves, and the first Taliban fighters
arrive.