Last Updated on August 14, 2021
As the Taliban conquers almost all of Afghanistan while American troops are still in the process of withdrawing under Joe Biden’s guidance, the Biden White House released a statement in which it pledges to fast track the placement of Afghanistan refugees into the United States, hints at further military operations in the country, and blames President Donald Trump for the Taliban’s rapid steamrolling of the country.
In the statement, which is purportedly to be written by Joe Biden but is much clearer and more concise than any public speech he has delivered in recent years, the White House notes that it has “authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops” to assist in the military’s withdrawal, which was originally set to be completed on September 11, 2021, a date Biden chose.
Then, the statement notes that the White House has “ordered our Armed Forces and our Intelligence Community to ensure that we maintain the capability and the vigilance to address future terrorist threats from Afghanistan,” apparently suggesting that the United States may reinvade the country in some limited capacity to address these “future terrorist threats” that may be posed by the Taliban.
Over the past several days I have been in close contact with my national security team to give them direction on how to protect our interests and values as we end our military mission in Afghanistan.
Read my full statement: https://t.co/C1f68bQaUQ
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 14, 2021
Biden then declares that his administration is streamlining a “whole-of-government effort to process, transport, and relacate Afghan Special immigrant Visa applicants” for refugees to be resettled in the United States and elsewhere in the West. “We are working to evacuate thousands of” Afghans, the statement adds.
Then, the White House statement goes on to blame President Trump for the Taliban conquering the majority of the nation in only days.
“I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor,” the statement explains. “Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. Forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500.” Biden then suggested that he considered a plan to send more American troops to Afghanistan, which according to the White House, would have been to “ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again”.
