President Joe Biden showed no sign of backing away from his decision to withdraw all troops and a significant portion of the diplomatic corps from Afghanistan, restating his determination to leave the country in a statement released Saturday.
Biden authorized the deployment of some 5,000 U.S. troops to ensure “an orderly and safe” drawdown of U.S. and allied personnel in Afghanistan, which came after reports of the evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff in Kabul to the international airport as the Taliban rapidly close in on the capital.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been directed to support President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan leaders amid turmoil in the region, Biden said. Ambassador Tracey Jacobson was charged with overseeing the relocation of Afghan special immigrant visa applicants and other Afghan allies.
Biden further said he had ordered U.S. armed forces and the intelligence community to maintain the capability to address “future terrorist threats from Afghanistan.”
Biden, who is currently at Camp David, criticized the actions of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, on Afghanistan in the months before leaving office, before adding, “I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan—two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.”
Meanwhile, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are being swiftly evacuated to the international airport as the Taliban close in on the capital city.
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