President Joe Biden says he doesn't think the Taliban has changed since they last held power until 2001, but believes they're going through an 'existential crisis' about their global image after they once again took control in Afghanistan after a quick and brutal takeover.
Biden spoke out in depth Wednesday during his first interview after the US's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation.
'What happens now in Afghanistan? Do you believe the Taliban have changed?' ABC News host George Stephanopoulos asked.
The president said no.
'Let me put it this way - I think they're going through sort of an existential crisis about do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government,' Biden explained, adding 'I'm not sure they do.'
He claimed the militant Islamist group care about their held beliefs more than international legitimacy.
'But they also care about whether they have food to eat, whether they have an income that they can provide for their f- that they can make any money and run an economy. They care about whether or not they can hold together the society that they in fact say they care so much about.'
But when asked about intelligence reports about the resurgence of Al Qaeda, Biden said it 'could' be sooner than the government's initial prediction of 18 to 24 months after US withdrawal - but claimed the threat wouldn't come from Afghanistan.
'The deal is the threat from Al Qaeda and their associate organizations is greater in other parts of the world to the United States,' he said.
Biden was asked whether the Taliban has changed since the last time they had control over Afghanistan in a Wednesday ABC News interview
He told host George Stephanopoulos they had not, but were going through an 'existential crisis' about their role in the international community
As an example Biden said he was surprised 'that when we decided to leave, that [the Taliban] would provide safe passage for Americans to get out.'
The insurgents took Kabul on Sunday after a lightning offensive that lasted just days.
Biden has faced bipartisan criticism over the US's hasty withdrawal, but in the interview he stood by the decision and even said it should've happened a long time ago.
Seemingly acknowledging the chaos unfolding over the last week, he said 'getting out would be messy no matter when it occurred.'
The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan's Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States
Biden said the Taliban care about food, money, and 'whether they can hold together the society' they are creating in Afghanistan
Taliban officials had pledged to allow anyone who wanted to leave Afghanistan - foreign nationals and Afghan civilians - were able to.
They vowed a less brutal regime than when they last held the country from 1996 to 2001 and promised amnesty for people who worked with the US government.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, held his first-ever public news conference to address global concerns.
He promised the Taliban would honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law, without elaborating. The Taliban have encouraged women to return to work and have allowed girls to return to school, handing out Islamic headscarves at the door. A female news anchor interviewed a Taliban official Monday in a TV studio.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, promised the group's regime wouldn't be as brutal as it was 20 years ago
But recent reports say the group controls the streets surrounding Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport - the last US and NATO-defended territory - and are cracking down on who can get in.
Thousands of Afghans were packed Thursday between Taliban checkpoints and a US-imposed ring of steel around Kabul's main airport, desperate to get aboard any flight out following the return of the hardline Islamist group, the Associated Press reports.
Biden's 'existential crisis' comments have already received blowback on Twitter
Unconfirmed reports on social media say several people have been killed as US forces and the Taliban struggle to contain the desperate throngs on their respective sides of an unofficial no-man's land.
In the ABC interview Biden acknowledged the US had the duty to get as many Afghans - particularly women - out of the country as possible.
'But here's the deal,' he continued. 'The idea that we're able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rational.'
'There are a lotta places where women are being subjugated. The way to deal with that is not with a military invasion. The way to deal with that is putting economic, diplomatic, and international pressure on them to change their behavior.'
Biden's comment on the Taliban's 'existential crisis' earned some blowback on Twitter.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton tweeted a video of the segment, adding 'This can't be real.'
'You know who’s really going through an existential crisis? It isn’t the Taliban. They know exactly who they are,' GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell said. 'It’s the 10,000 plus Americans you left behind with no way out.'
Biden has also been slammed for the 'bald-faced lie' that chaos in Kabul during the final stages of the US withdrawal was inevitable after saying for months it was not.
The President's performance was blasted from all arenas with Republicans and Democrats branding Biden 'shameful' and calling for him to 'take responsibility' for the the scenes of violence and disorder in recent days as thousands attempted to flee while the Taliban advanced.
Biden was criticized for having 'no urgency' in tackling the crisis, while others said the President was 'impotent' and 'dishonest' after his interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
In the interview with George Stephanopoulos Biden expressed disbelief there was 'a way to have gotten out with chaos' and said he did not think the withdrawal could have been handled without mistakes. He said: 'The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens'.
However, just six weeks ago at a White House briefing on July 8, Biden said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was 'not inevitable'.
He said then the drawdown was 'proceeding in a secure and orderly way'.
At the time he also said he trusted the Afghan military because they were 'more competent in terms of conducting war' than the Taliban and at the same time denied claims the intelligence community expected the Afghan government to collapse.
'I want to make clear that we won't just walk away and not sustain their ability to maintain a force', he added on July 8.
However in last night's ABC interview Biden appeared pleasantly surprised the Taliban were letting the US evacuate Americans from Afghanistan without issue, but said his administration was having 'more difficulty' evacuating Afghanis who helped the US military and now have Taliban targets on their backs.
In another bizarre moment Biden brushed off harrowing footage that emerged on Monday of two Afghans falling to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of a US evacuation flight, saying the video was from 'four days ago, five days ago'.
Biden snapped back at Stephanopoulos when he was questioned about footage of two Afghans falling to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of a US evacuation flight from Kabul on Monday, brushing off the harrowing images because they were 'four days ago, five days ago'.
The President also insisted he had been told by intelligence officials Kabul would likely withstand the Taliban until at least the end of 2021 - instead of the 10 days it took.
It was the president's first time taking any questioning from the press amid fresh scrutiny of his Afghanistan withdrawal strategy with the fall of Kabul and his remarks were met with strong criticism.
Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's ambassador to the UN, branded the president's comments 'shameful' and 'a slap in the face to the thousands of Americans still in Afghanistan'. She blasted Biden for having 'no urgency' and failing to 'take responsibility' for his chaotic foreign policy.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who has long argued against withdrawing troops, termed Biden 'ignorant' while Arkansas GOP Rep. Tom Cotton blasted the President as 'dishonest' and 'impotent' and said the claim chaos was inevitable was 'a bald-faced lie'.
On Wednesday the US military evacuated approximately 1,800 individuals on ten C-17s. Since August 14, nearly 6,000 people have been taken out of Kabul. Biden told ABC News said he wants to rescue 15,000 Americans, and up to 65,000 Afghan refugees who helped the US military operation.
Biden was also blasted by National Review Institute fellow John McCormack, who said it was not clear 'what the plan is' to get American citizens stuck in Afghanistan home.
'Biden waited more than 72 hours since Kabul fell to commit to bringing home every American citizen stuck in Afghanistan. In the interim, top admin officials hedged. Still not clear what the plan is to accomplish this goal', he said.
While Trump's former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway shared a Fox News article titled: 'Biden panned for 'shameful' comments on Afghan withdrawal during ABC interview: 'It's really bad'.'
And Donald Trump Jr criticized Biden's press conference on Wednesday, during which he spoke about Covid, and refused to take questions.
'10,000 Americans or more are stranded in Afghanistan, trapped by a terrorist organization, and our president is too much of a coward to take a single question from the media. #CowardInChief,' he said.
Meanwhile Washington Examiner journalist Jerry Dunleavy blasted Biden for brushing off harrowing footage of two Afghans falling to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of a US evacuation flight.
'This has the same sort of negative vibe as "what difference, at this point, does it make?"', he wrote alongside Biden's quotes.
Defense Editor of The Economist Shashank Joshi slammed Biden as 'tone-deaf, callous, pathetic' while Conservative columnist Meghan McCain and Managing Editor of Conservative news site the Daily Wire Emily Zanotti both scathingly pointed out the footage came from Monday morning - only two days before the car-crash interview.
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale tweeted the footage was filmed only 72 hours before the interview. He said: 'Asked by ABC about images of a plane packed with Afghans and of people falling from a plane, Biden interjected, wrongly, "That was 4 days ago, 5 days ago." They were taken less than 72 hours ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment