Biden declares end to 'forever wars' in Afghan exit
WASHINGTON, United States — President Joe Biden made a forceful defense Tuesday of his "wise" decision to leave Afghanistan, telling Americans he refuses to send another generation to fight in a "forever war."
The traumatic departure from Afghanistan, completed Monday after 20 years of war against the Taliban, was "a wise decision and the best decision for America," Biden said in an address to the nation.
After coming under fire from Republican opponents over the chaotic nature of the rush to the exits in Afghanistan, Biden said he did what should have been done years ago.
"I was not going to extend this forever war and I was not extending a forever exit," he said.
The evacuation, he said, was an "extraordinary success."
Speaking in the ornate State Dining Room of the White House, Biden thumped the lectern as he detailed the extraordinary costs of a war — more than 2,400 US military deaths and up to $2.3 trillion spent — that ended with the Taliban guerrillas back in power.
"I take responsibility for the decision," he said.
"I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. Today, I honored that commitment. It was time to be honest," he said.
"After 20 years in Afghanistan I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war."
Biden takes heat
Following two weeks of evacuation flights — a titanic effort marred by a suicide bombing that killed 13 US service members and scores of Afghans — Biden faces a chorus of criticism that could yet hurt him domestically.
Getting out of the last big post-9/11 war was one of Biden's campaign promises coming into office. The idea was overwhelmingly popular.
But the US departure, culminating with a solitary airplane lifting at midnight from Kabul with the last troops and diplomats, brought home for many that the so-called "drawdown" or "retrograde" really amounted to jarring defeat.
Republicans, led by Biden's bitter predecessor Donald Trump, paint the exit as a humiliating failure, a defeat that outdoes even the 1975 evacuation from Saigon, and a signal to the world that the United States has given up.
"President Biden just said his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was an 'extraordinary success,'" the Republican Party in the House of Representatives tweeted.
"Thirteen service members were killed in action. HUNDREDS of Americans were left abandoned. BILLIONS of dollars in U.S. military equipment is now in the hands of the Taliban."
Biden insisted in his speech that remaining Americans in Afghanistan — many of them dual nationals — would be allowed by the Taliban to get out if they wanted.
While it is unclear how many Americans were actually prevented from leaving, the issue is a dangerous political issue for Biden.
For those stranded, "there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want," he said.
And addressing another rising concern in Washington, he warned IS-K, the hardline Islamist militant group in Afghanistan that killed the 13 US military members, that they would be pursued.
"We are not done with you yet," he said.
But he also broadened his argument, reaching out to Americans who have long questioned the need for US attempts to attempt nation building in hostile countries.
With the departure from Afghanistan, the United States is "ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries," he said.
"Human rights will be at the center of our foreign policy but the way to do that is not through endless military deployments."
Get the latest news as Taliban gains control of Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera/AFP
Afghanistan's supreme leader said Sunday the country's women were being saved from "traditional oppressions" by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as "free and dignified human beings" restored.
In a statement marking this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada -- who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban's birthplace in Kandahar -- said steps had been taken to provide women with a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia".
The United Nations expressed "deep concern" last week that women were being deprived of their rights under Afghanistan's Taliban government and warned of systematic gender apartheid.
Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have stopped girls and women from attending high school or university, banned them from parks, gyms and public baths, and ordered them to cover up when leaving home.
They have also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, while most female government employees have been dismissed from their jobs or are being paid to stay at home.
However, Akhundzada said "necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of the society".
"All institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights," his statement read. — AFP
UN chief Antonio Guterres will gather international envoys at a secret location in Doha on Monday in an increasingly desperate bid to find ways to influence Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. — AFP
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday calling on Taliban authorities to "swiftly reverse" all restrictive measures against women, condemning in particular its ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations.
The resolution, unanimously adopted by all 15 Council members, said the ban announced in early April "undermines human rights and humanitarian principles."
More broadly, the Council called on the Taliban government to "swiftly reverse the policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms."
It cited access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and "women's full, equal and meaningful participation in public life."
The Council also urged "all States and organizations to use their influence" to "promote an urgent reversal of these policies and practices." — AFP
G7 foreign ministers on Tuesday demanded the "immediate reversal" of a ban on women in Afghanistan working for non-governmental organisations and the United Nations.
"We call for the immediate reversal of unacceptable decisions restricting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the latest bans prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs and the UN," the top diplomats said in a statement after two days of talks in Japan.
The group also slammed the Taliban authorities' "systematic abuses of human rights of women and girls and discrimination against the members of religious and ethnic minorities".
Taliban authorities triggered international outrage this month after extending a December ban on Afghan women working for non-governmental organisations to include the UN.
They have rejected criticism over the move, saying it is an internal issue that should be "respected by all sides." — AFP
The United Nations is being forced to make an "appalling choice" over whether to continue operations in Afghanistan while the Taliban government bans women from working for the organisation, the world body says.
Under their austere interpretation of Islam, Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.
In December, they banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign non-governmental organisations, and on April 4 extended that to UN offices across the country.
In a statement Tuesday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said the ban was "unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter, and for that reason the United Nations cannot comply".
"Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold," it said. — AFP
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