President Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and State Department Antony Blinken, addresses the nation Aug. 20, 2021, at the White House (Video screenshot)
Amid sharp bipartisan criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden told the nation in a live address Friday he will "mobilize every resource necessary" to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies and ensure "that every American who wants to leave can get to the airport."
"There will be plenty of time to criticize and second guess when this operation is over, but now I'm focused on getting this job done," he said.
Answering a question from a reporter, Biden insisted his has "seen no questioning of our conduct by allies."
"As a matter of fact I've got the exact opposite, (that we have been) acting with dispatch and doing what we said we'd do," he said.
Strong rebukes, however, have come openly from allies Britian, Germany and others, charging NATO allies were left in the dark as a "catastrophe" developed.
Biden insisted the U.S. has no interest in Afghanistan, arguing the objective of removing al-Qaida and "getting" Osama bin Laden has been accomplished.
"If Bin laden had gone to Yemen, would we have gone to Afghanistan?" he asked.
"You've known my position for a long, long time," he said. "It's time to end this war."
He insisted the threat from terrorism has "metastized" and that the threat from other countries is greater.
"This is about America leading the world and our allies have agreed with that," he said.
Critics, however, immediately pointed out that the U.S. no longer has assets on the ground in Afghanistan to assess the terror threat.
Biden was asked to respond to the report Friday that the administration received a cable last month from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warning of the impending fall of Kabul and advising that the evacuation of Americans begin Aug. 1.
"I've had all kind of cables, all kinds of advice," Biden replied.
The president argued he took the "consensus decision" that the fall of Kabul would not happen until later in the year.
Prior to the speech, which began nearly 50 minutes late, the White House said Biden would remain in Washington and not go to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as had been scheduled. As the crisis developed over the past week, Biden was mostly in Wilmington and the Camp David presidential retreat.
About 12,700 people have been evacuated from the country since Aug. 14, when the Taliban moved to take over Kabul, U.S. officials said Friday. The Pentagon said that over the last 24 hours, 5,700 people have been evacuated from Kabul aboard 16 Air Force C-17s.
Biden said he was unaware of any Americans having difficulty getting to the Kabul airport.
However, CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward reported via Twitter: "WE had difficulty getting to the airport... It's very difficult... and it is dangerous."
ABC anchor David Muir asked a reporter in Afghanistan if the president's claim squares with reporting on the ground.
"I mean -- just totally not," replied Ian Pannell.
.@DavidMuir: "The president said he has no intelligence that the Americans have not been able to get [to the Kabul airport]. The question, obviously—does that square with reporting on ground?"@IanPannell: "I mean—just totally not."
Read more: https://t.co/4ltINsyz2v pic.twitter.com/WgXil0HXKX
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) August 20, 2021
Meanwhile the French and British militaries have deployed their special forces to to evacuate their citizens, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Watch Biden's speech:
The State Department has described the result of Taliban's blocking of access to the airport as "congestion." Americans have been warned by the State Department that the U.S. government "cannot ensure safe passage to the Hamid Karzai International Airport."
The department's updated guidance Friday said Americans should "use their best judgment getting to the airport" and warned that "airport gates may open or close without notice."
Among the intended evacuees, the Pentagon said, are 22,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants to the United States who are to be housed at three military bases. Aid groups and some lawmakers want to considerably increase that number.
Biden defended his actions in an interview with week with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
"I don’t think it could've been handled in a way that -- we’re going to go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow there was a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens," Biden said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has declared Biden should be impeached if Americans are left behind in Afghanistan.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Biden's claim that there was no way to avoid the chaos is "a bald-faced lie."
"Joe Biden is as dishonest as he is impotent," the senator said.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
The post Biden to nation: I've seen no 'questioning of our conduct by allies' appeared first on WND.
