“Evacuation is an extraordinary US success”

“The United States ended a 20-year war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history. We have completed one of the largest air evacuations in history, with over 120,000 people brought to safety – more than double the number in what the experts thought possible “. Joe Biden, president of the United States, thus addresses the message to the nation after the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan.

“The extraordinary success of this mission is linked to the incredible qualities and courage of our soldiers, diplomats and intelligence men”. “I would not have prolonged an endless war. And I would not have prolonged an eternal evacuation,” he adds. The government and the Afghan army, trained by the US and NATO, “did not resist” as long as was expected of them. Biden reiterated this, speaking of the end of the war in Afghanistan. The assessment of their abilities, he added, “was not accurate”.

The imposing airlift, which allowed the evacuation of over 120 thousand people, was a “mission of mercy” and not of war. “No nation in history has done the same,” Biden said.

“There are no” evacuation operations at the end of a war, without the “difficulties” that there have been in recent weeks, the president said, speaking of the chaos seen in Kabul and the security risks incurred by the US military.

The United States, Biden promises, “will continue to help” US and Afghan citizens who want to leave Afghanistan, stressing that the Taliban “has made a commitment” to guarantee “safe passage” for those who want to leave the country. In Afghanistan, Biden said again speaking to the White House, there are still between 100 and 200 US citizens, some of whom intend to stay in the country.

“The world has changed”, the United States is engaged in a “serious confrontation” with China for supremacy in the 21st century. The end of the war in Afghanistan, which no longer served the strategic interests of the US, marks “the end of an era”. The US withdrawal, Biden said, puts an end to the era of “major military operations” to “rebuild other countries”. “I have honored the pledge to end the war.” “I refuse to continue a war that is no longer in the interest of our people,” the president said, adding that the US has been at war “for too long”.

Human rights, the president said, are “at the center” of US foreign policy, but military intervention will no longer be used to achieve this goal. “We are not done with you yet” warns Biden, addressing directly to Isis-K, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the attack on Kabul airport in which 13 US soldiers and dozens of civilians were killed.

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