United States President Joe Biden said on Sunday (22) that the US government had succeeded in expanding the security perimeter for access to Kabul airport and speeding up the pace of evacuating people from Afghanistan – and that the “Taliban cooperated”.
“People will be able to go out [do Afeganistão], we have made changes and extended access to the airport and the security zone [em Cabul]”Biden said.” So far, the Taliban have not attacked American forces and let the Americans out, as they had promised. Let’s see if what they say is true. “
Since the Taliban took Kabul and regained power in Afghanistan on the 15th, at least 20 people have died in or around the airport in the capital Kabul, the scene of scenes of despair for those trying to flee the fundamentalist regime.
Biden has been heavily criticized for the chaos that followed the withdrawal of US forces from the country after 20 years.
Speaking at the White House, the president said the pace of withdrawals had accelerated significantly in recent days, due to the changes, and that 11,000 people left in just over 36 hours this weekend.
Since August 14, 28,000 American, NATO and Afghan citizens who worked with foreigners during the war, as well as the country’s women leaders and journalists, have been evacuated. He also mentioned that airlines will loan planes to transport Afghans who are in processing centers in countries like Germany and Qatar to the United States or other countries.
Biden again denied that the turmoil over civilians leaving the country was due to a lack of effective planning on the part of the US government. “The withdrawal would be painful and difficult no matter when it started; if we had started a month ago or in a month … there is no way out [de tropas] of a country without pain or loss “.
The American has also reacted to criticism from other NATO (Western Military Alliance) countries, which accuse the United States of not giving sufficient notice of the withdrawal and of not helping enough to save citizens and people. diplomats from these nations.
“We are working closely with the G7, we will have a group conference [na terça] and we have already helped expel diplomats and citizens from these countries, and we will continue. “
Asked by a reporter whether the US government now trusts the Taliban as it negotiates with the extremist group that has taken power in the country, Biden replied, “The Taliban must make a very important decision – whether or not to want to try to unite the Afghan people will need financial, trade and other things. They need legitimacy, they want to be recognized by other countries, they ask us not to permanently withdraw our diplomatic representations in the country.
The US president has once again defended his decision to respect the agreement to withdraw troops from the country, which fell into the hands of the Taliban in a few days.
“When this is all over, the American people will clearly understand why we have pulled out; or I pulled the United States out of a 20 year war that cost us $ 150 million a day for those 20 years, and thousands of deaths, or I increase the number of troops and keep the war going ”, Biden said. “I made the right decision not to send more young Americans to war.”