“Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building.”
— President Biden addresses the nation as U.S. troops head to Afghanistan to help evacuate Americans and allies.
“I’m adamant we focus on the threats we face today in 2021, not yesterday’s threats.”
— President Biden addresses nation after Afghanistan falls to Taliban.
“It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not.”
— President Biden doubles down on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan
Biden on Afghanistan: “I stand squarely behind my decision … But I always promised the American people that I would be straight with you. Truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”
President Biden: “How many more lives, American lives, is it worth … ? I’m clear in my answer. I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past.”
Biden’s message to the Taliban: “The U.S. presence will be swift, and the response will be swift and forceful. We will defend our people with devastating force, if necessary.”
The scene out of Kabul is what many terror experts, like @ColinPClarke of @TheSoufanGroup, have long worried about when it comes to withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
— President Biden says he’s been “engaged all day, in constant contact with military commanders” about ISIS-K terrorist attacks at Kabul airport, which killed 12 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians.
President Biden: "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."
President Biden quotes from the Book of Isaiah before a moment of silence for service members:
“When the Lord says, ‘Who shall I send?’ … The American military has been answering for a long time, ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me.’”
President Biden: “If you’re one of the millions of Americans who said that they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval of the FDA, it has now happened. The moment you’ve been waiting for is here.”
President Biden calls on companies to require COVID vaccine for employees following FDA’s full Pfizer approval:
“I call on you now to do that. Require it.”
President Biden: “Make sure your child is masked when they leave home. That’s how we can best keep our kids safe.”
Just now, @SecBlinken on Afghanistan evacuations: "Last 24 hours about 8,000 people on about 60 flights evacuated from Kabul airport. Since this effort began at the end of July, about 30,000 people all told ..."
More @SecBlinken, backing up what Biden said this week: "Al Qaeda's capacity to do what it did on 9/11, to attack us, to attack our partners or allies from Afghanistan, is vastly, vastly diminished."
Blinken acknowledges al Qaeda is not fully gone from Afghanistan.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says there are "roughly a few thousand" Americans left in Afghanistan.
Sullivan then explains why U.S. officials don't know the *exact* number of those remaining ...
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: “We gave 20 years of American blood, treasure, sweat, and tears in Afghanistan … and at some point, it was the time for the United States to say that the Afghan people had to stand up for themselves.”
“We made the judgments we made based on the information we had at the time, while preparing for the alternative contingency.”
— National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Afghanistan pullout and flying more troops in to evacuate Americans and allies.
“This wasn’t a choice just between saving those women and girls and not saving those women and girls. The alternative choice had its own set of human costs and consequences …”
— National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Afghanistan pullout