US: US President Joe Biden on Tuesday mounted a fierce defense of his exit from Afghanistan as the “best decision for America,” the day after the US military withdrawal celebrated by the Taliban as a major victory.
“This is the right decision. A wise decision. And the best decision for America,” Biden said in an address to the nation in Washington, after he stuck to an August 31 deadline to end two decades of bloodshed that began and ended with the hardline Islamists in power.
For America, Biden argued, the only choice in Afghanistan was “leaving or escalating.”
And the President, whose critics have savaged him for his handling of the withdrawal, said the frenzied airlift -- which saw the United States and its allies fly more than 120,000 people fleeing the new Taliban regime out of Afghanistan -- was an “extraordinary success.”
“No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history; only the United States had the capacity and the will and ability to do it,” he said.
President Biden also warned the Islamic State-Khorasan, the group which killed 13 US troops in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport, that they face more retribution from Washington.
“And to ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet,” he said, using another acronym for the Afghan offshoot of the Islamic State jihadist group.
The Taliban also saw the airlift as a success: a mark of their astonishing comeback and defeat of a global superpower.
Taliban fighters fired weapons into the sky in Kabul in the early hours of Tuesday in jubilation after the last US plane flew out. Later, they swept into the capital’s vast airport.
“Congratulations to Afghanistan... this victory belongs to us all,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters hours later on the airport runway. Mujahid said the Taliban’s victory was a “lesson for other invaders”.
In Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the movement and the country’s second-largest city, thousands of celebrating supporters swept onto the streets.
All eyes will now turn to how the Taliban handle their first few days with sole authority over the country, with a sharp focus on whether they will allow free departure for those wanting to leave -- including some foreigners.
The US has said that “under 200” of its citizens remained in the country, and Britain said the number of UK nationals inside was in the “low hundreds.”
Thousands of Afghans who worked with the US-backed government over the years and fear retribution also want to get out.
Talks are ongoing as to who will now run Kabul airport, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned was of “existential importance” as a lifeline for aid.
The Taliban has repeatedly promised a more tolerant brand of governance compared with their first stint in power, and Mujahid persisted with that theme.
“We want to have good relations with the US and the world. We welcome good diplomatic relations with them all,” he said.
Mujahid also insisted Taliban security forces would be “gentle and nice”.
But UN Chief Antonio Guterres gave a stark assessment of the challenges they face as they build their new regime. He expressed his “grave concern at the deepening humanitarian and economic crisis in the country,” adding that basic services threatened to collapse “completely.” He pleaded for financial support from the international community for the war-ravaged country, which is dependent on foreign aid.
“I urge all member states to dig deep for the people of Afghanistan in their darkest hour of need,” Guterres said in a statement. Authorities from several countries have already begun meeting with Taliban leadership, the latest being India.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, urged the Taliban to combat terrorism after the US withdrawal, and called for an inclusive Government.
The US-led airlift began as the Taliban completed an astonishing rout of Government forces around the country and took over the capital on August 15.
The withdrawal came just before the August 31 deadline set by Biden to end the war which began with the US invasion in the wake of 9/11 -- a conflict that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Afghans and more than 2,400 American service members.
Meanwhile, Britain has opened talks with the Taliban over the “safe passage” of its remaining nationals and allies out of Afghanistan after the hardline Islamist group’s quickfire takeover of the country last month.
The British government confirmed to AFP it has dispatched senior civil servant Simon Gass to meet with Taliban representatives in Doha.
Much of the group’s senior leadership lived in exile in the Qatari capital until the overthrow of Afghanistan’s Western-backed Government after 20 years of war.
More than 8,000 Afghans who helped NATO forces made it out of Afghanistan and the British Government said they would be given indefinite leave to remain.
- YAHOO NEWS
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