"I do not regret. I'm not going back. The longest of American wars ends, I won't change my mind, I won't pass the war in Afghanistan to a fifth president: how many more lives should I sacrifice? I will not repeat the mistakes of the past. Human rights cannot be defended with endless military engagements. In Afghanistan we were only there to fight terrorism. I prefer criticism to not deciding. I don't want a new Vietnam". Besieged by domestic and international criticism over the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan which paved the way for the Taliban to recapture Kabul, the US president Joe Biden tries to defend himself and to explain oneself by speaking to the nation. In reality, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan had been negotiated by his predecessors and signed by Donald Trump and was an electoral commitment by Biden but the way and times in which it took place do not protect him from a shower of criticism and cannot hide what which appears as a humiliating smack by the US with Kabul reminiscent of Saigon with the escape of the Americans by helicopter.
“After twenty years there is no good time to withdraw” claims the American President who instead attacks the Afghans: “Their leaders have fled and their armed forces have collapsed. American soldiers don't have to die in a war the Afghans do not want to fight for your country. And if they can't stand up to the Taliban today, there's no reason why they will in a year or five years' time." It's hard to believe that Biden has convinced the world of his move but, in his address to the nation, he never misses an opportunity to issue a stark warning to the Taliban: “If they attack us, our response will be devastating”. But the hour of the retreat remains full of uncertainties and pains and for the USA limiting the damages of the evacuation will not be easy.
