President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington
Highlights
- Biden's statement came as he was speaking on the occasion of completing a year in the office
- There is no way to get out of Afghanistan after 20 years easily, Biden said
- Biden also blamed previous administrations for the fiasco surrounding withdrawal from Afghanistan
Defending his decision to pull out from Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (local time) said "I make no apologies for what I did". Speaking on the occasion of completing a year in the office, he said, "There is no way to get out of Afghanistan after 20 years easily. Not possible, no matter when you did it. And I make no apologies for what I did."
However, Biden expressed his sympathy for the crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the nation in mid-August.
POTUS said that he felt bad about "what's happening in Afghanistan as a result of the incompetence of the Taliban."
"I have a great concern for the women and men who were blown up on the line at the airport by a terrorist attack against them," he said.
Defending his withdrawal from Afghanistan decision, Biden blamed previous administrations for the fiasco.
"Had we not gotten out, the acknowledgement is we'd be putting a lot more forces in ... do I feel bad [about] what's happening as a consequence of the incompetence of the Taliban? Yes, I do," Biden said, adding that there are "a whole range of things around the world, that we can't solve every problem. And so I don't view that as a competence issue."
The President also said that there was no way to get out after 20 years easily.
"Raise your hand if you think anyone was going to be able to unify Afghanistan under one single government? It's been the graveyard of empires for a solid reason: It is not susceptible to unity," said Biden.
He also raised the issue of the economic burden Afghanistan was causing to the US. Citing the weekly spending of nearly one billion dollars to keep American forces in the state, Biden noted what he called no possibility at a peaceful resolution.
"The question was, do I continue to spend that much money per week in the state of Afghanistan knowing that the idea that being able to succeed, other than sending more body bags back home, is highly, highly unusual," he said.
(With inputs from ANI)
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