Biden Leaves Republicans Reeling With Blistering Defense Of Afghanistan Withdrawal

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:37 pm

President Biden didn’t give an inch and instead offered a powerful and popular defense for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Biden Did Not Back Down On Afghanistan

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The President said:

There was only a cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan. Lurching into the third decade of conflict. I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. Forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risk. We planned for every contingency. But I always promised the American people that I would be straight with you. The truth is this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. 

So what’s happened? Afghanistan’s political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. If anything, the developments in the past week reinforced that any U.S. Military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.

Biden Asks Republicans How Many More Americans Do You Want Me To Send To Fight A War That The Afghans Won’t Fight?

Video:

The President said:

So I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay, how manymore generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war? When Afghan troops will not. How many more lives, American lives is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?

I’m clear on my answer. I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past. The mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the national interest of the United States. Of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country. 

Biden Plainly, Clearly, Strongly, And Honestly Did Not Buckle In The Face Of Criticism

Republicans were hoping to make Afghanistan a lingering issue, but President Biden shut them down. Biden painted the GOP into a corner. They are either wanting to get more Americans killed in Afghanistan, or they wanted to end the war.

Biden’s speech was commanding. He left Republicans with nowhere to go, and their attempt to make an issue out of Afghanistan is likely to fizzle and be forgotten in a matter of days.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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