US President Joe Biden said on Monday he "stood squarely behind" his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and rejected broad criticism of the chaotic withdrawal that is posing a crisis for him. Biden admitted that the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban retaking control happened more quickly than the US government had anticipated. He blamed Afghanistan's political leaders and that nation's armed forces for not standing up to the Taliban's lightning quick offensive that put them back in control after two decades of war. "I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. That's why we're still there, we were clear-eyed about the risks, we planned for every contingency. But I always promised the American people I would be straight with you," Biden said. "The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated." As chaos descends on Kabul's international airport, where desperate Afghans rushed the tarmac seeking a way out of their country, the President remained resolute in his decision to withdraw American troops from the country. Still, Biden has sent an additional 6,000 troops to the country to secure the airport, a sign of the complicated and contradictory process of winding down America's longest war. In a written statement over the weekend, Biden defended his decision to leave Afghanistan, saying he would not pass the 20-year conflict on to another president. He also lay part of the blame for the current situation on his predecessor, Donald Trump, who brokered a deal with the Taliban to withdraw American troops by May 1, 2021. — Agencies
