- A new book says Biden remains stubbornly adamant that the exit from Afghanistan was as good as he could have done
- Biden left hundreds of American citizens behind in Afghanistan after his chaotic troop withdrawals
- The chaos at the Kabul airport ultimately led to the horrific suicide bombing at the airport that killed 13 American service members.
President Joe Biden remains defiant that his decision to end the war in Afghanistan was the right one, despite the loss of 13 American service members in a suicide bombing near the Kabul airport.
Biden publicly defended the operation to exit Afghanistan despite the messy withdrawal, but a new book from Politico reporter Alexander Ward demonstrates that the president ‘didn’t believe anyone had made a mistake.’
Ending the war was always going to be messy,’ Ward wrote, revealing some of the behind the scenes details from the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in his book ‘The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.’ Details of the book were first reported in Axios.
Despite the Pentagon’s efforts to keep some level of troops to facilitate an orderly withdrawal, Biden and the State Department focused on getting out as soon as possible.
Afghans gather on a roadside near the military part of the airport in Kabul, hoping to flee from the country after the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan.
Evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport
At the same time, Biden vowed he would reman in Afghanistan until every American citizen who wanted to leave could leave.
‘If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out,’ Biden said in an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
‘There’s no one here who thinks we can meet that promise,’ a White House senior official told Ward at the time.
The administration’s hasty exit led to a great deal of chaos, including Afghan refugees falling off of cargo planes leaving the country and women handing their babies over the airport fence to American troops.
The chaos at the airport ultimately led to the horrific suicide bombing at the airport that killed 13 American service members.
Ultimately more than 800 American citizens were left behind in Afghanistan as well as tens of thousands of Afghans who supported American troops.
Publicly, Biden was never contrite for the messy exit in Afghanistan, defending himself in remarks at the White House on August 18.
‘The bottom line is, there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced. None,’ he said.
US President Joe Biden(R) attends the dignified transfer of the remains of a fallen service member at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, August, 29, 2021
President Joe Biden checks his watch caught on tv pics Biden apparently disrespectfully checking his watch during the dignified transfer procedure honoring the 13 U.S. service members who died in Kabul from suicide bomber
Ward wrote that Biden believed his team had done their best, and did not expect anyone in his administration to resign.
‘Biden told his top aides, [National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan included, that he stood by them and they had done their best during a tough situation,’ he wrote.
The president received further criticism for looking at his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony for the 13 American service members who died as a result of his decision.
The president’s approval ratings faded after the chaotic exit and never recovered.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk