What is US President Joe Biden's new mission to Afghanistan and the Taliban?

Posted on 17th Aug 2021 by rohit kumar

After the Taliban's occupation of Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden, while addressing the nation, has said that its leaders are responsible for the condition of Afghanistan, who fled the country.

 

He said the Taliban could quickly take over Afghanistan because its leaders fled the country and Afghan soldiers trained by American soldiers did not want to fight them.

 

"The fact is that the situation there changed rapidly as Afghan leaders laid down their arms and in many places the Afghan army accepted defeat without a fight," he said.

 

Joe Biden also announced a new US mission in Afghanistan. He said that 6,000 additional troops have been sent from Afghanistan to evacuate American citizens and civilians from Afghanistan.

 

He said that America will take allies of Afghanistan and needy Afghan citizens out of the country.

 

At the same time, he said that through military aid, the US will conduct 'Operation Alize Refugee', under which arrangements will be made to expel Afghan civilians who are threatened by the Taliban.

 

'Stand by my decision'

 

In his speech broadcast live on television, Biden said that he is completely in favor of his decision.

 

On the rapid rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, he acknowledged, "The situation in Afghanistan has changed much faster than was expected."

 

"When Afghans do not want to fight for themselves, Americans should not engage in such a fight and lose their lives in it," he said.

 

Regarding his decision, Biden said that talks with the Taliban were started during the tenure of his predecessor Donald Trump, after which the presence of US troops in Afghanistan was reduced. At one time, where 15,500 American soldiers were stationed in Afghanistan, after the agreement, the number of soldiers was reduced to 2,500.

 

He said, "The Taliban had said that American troops should leave Afghanistan by May 1. If the Taliban has ever been extremely powerful since 2001, it is today."

 

"As president, I had two options - either to follow the agreement already reached or to start a fight with the Taliban. selecting the second option would have started the war once again."

 

'There was no right time to leave Afghanistan'

Biden said that after May 1, there was no agreement to protect US troops from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

He said, "There was no right time to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan. The US has ended its military presence in Afghanistan faster than expected."

 

'Told you to talk to Ashraf Ghani'

Biden said that watching the situation in Afghanistan is disturbing for those who lost 20 years of their lives in the fighting there.

 

He said, "I have worked on this issue for a long time, and for me, it is a personal loss."

 

Biden said he had advised Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to negotiate with the Taliban to find a political solution to the crisis, but his advice was not heeded.

 

He said, "Ashraf Ghani said that Afghan soldiers would fight the Taliban if needed, but I think it was his wrong decision."

 

Biden said there were two reasons behind his decision not to prematurely remove Afghan civilians whose lives could be at risk if the Taliban arrived.

 

The first was that "the Afghans themselves did not want to leave, and second, the evacuation of people in large numbers 'risked the loss of public confidence and the Afghan authorities did not want to do so."

 

'US will continue to seek diplomatic solution'

Biden said the US would continue to "try to find a diplomatic solution" to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.

 

He said, "The United States will not stop helping Afghan citizens. We will use diplomatic channels as well as international influence and continue to deliver humanitarian aid. We will continue to make diplomatic efforts at the provincial level to ensure that violence and instability do not happen."

 

Biden said, "I am clear that at the heart of our country's foreign policy is respect for human rights. But to do this we cannot send our soldiers to another earth for eternity."

 

He said the 20-year-long US mission in Afghanistan was not aimed at "nation-building" or "creating a central democracy", but aimed at preventing terrorist attacks on American soil.

 

'If Americans are attacked, the consequences will be dire'

Biden warned that "we have already made it clear to the Taliban that if American troops are attacked or the American campaign is affected, the United States will respond immediately and that the United States will "with all its destructive power, if necessary, defend its people." will protect."

 

He said, "I am the fourth president, so Afghanistan is facing the fire of crisis. I will not allow the fire of this war to reach my later presidents."

 

He said, "It is sad to see the current situation, but I have no regrets about the decision to end the role of American soldiers in the war in Afghanistan. This war should end here."