KABUL SNAFU: AN INDICTMENT ON THOSE TASKED WITH THE LAST CALL.

ICHEOKU says so the inept former President Ashraf Ghani pled with America not to evacuate completely from Afghanistan in order not to cause panic among the population; but why was the evacuation not done quietly without arousing the public. Why were the other five bases successfully closed but not Bagram base? What was the urgency that caused the early shutter of Bagram base on May 6th before the set due date of August 31st? It was more than one month period which could have been used to evacuate every evacuee and avoided the surged evacuation at Kabul airport, which created the picture of Afghanistan on fire, run, run, run. 

Everyone needing to be evacuated would have been easily contacted from a database and scheduled for a day certain to be at the airport for onward departure to their destination. So, why was this period not spent doing the airlift which would have been completed or about being completed by now and before the August 31st final pullout. The mission to Afghanistan was to find Osama bin Laden and he was found and killed in 2011; which technically was about the time the mission was completed and the troops should have been brought home. The military would have been making arrangements on how to wind down their mission in Afghanistan right from then. 

So, crunched time should not have been a reason for why the evacuation was muddled up because there was several weeks still left to complete the task by August 31st when whoever made the call to beat made it in May. That person is who should be taking the fall for whatever is being witnessed at Kabul airport that is threatening to destabilize Afghanistan and nobody else. What was the urgency that necessitated the rush when they still had more time to conclude a  mission that was previously scheduled for May 1st and later extended to August 31st. Who signed off on it despite billions of dollars in weapons and equipments which were neither shipped out, destroyed or even handed off to American allies world over. 

There is no country offered American weapons for free who will not gladly pay for the cost of shipping them to them. So, whose wisdom was to abandon such highly priced and valued American weapons in Afghanistan which the Taliban have now taken hold of. What if they start to export these weapons to terrorists all over the world? What if they hand them over to countries that are hostile to America or use the rocket launchers/missiles to target planes. What if Iran buys them for their technology? What if Pakistan commandeers them and use them in their skirmishes against India? How about China and Russia, could they possibly be interested in acquiring them to see the level of sophistication of current American weaponry. 

What were those in charge of completing the task of withdrawal been doing all these years since they were ordered to withdraw from Afghanistan? The military executes as ordered and with military efficiency, so why was the task of withdrawing from Afghanistan not fully implemented as expected. If those weapons left behind were meant for Afghanistan National Army (ANA), what are they doing with night vision capabilities, Apache helicopters and biometric facial recognition devices which they hardly know how to operate, since they will be fighting only AK47 wielding terrorists and have two friendly neighbors, Iran and Pakistan, both fellow acute Islamism countries, with no chance of ever going to war with either.  

Why such huge wastage of American public's funded weapons and equipments; only in the next budget to ask for billions of dollars in new military equipments and weaponry. Something does not look right with the picture, regardless of the appropriateness or lack thereof of the order for final withdrawal from Afghanistan. It looks like the implementation was purposely undermined and sabotaged to force a reversal of course and have American troops sent back into Afghanistan. They had several years to carry out the withdrawal and an additional six months since Joe Biden came into office, to complete a process which was already largely completed, yet it came to such embarrassing scenes as seen at Kabul airport.

ICHEOKU says whatever went wrong occurred during the last few weeks leading up to the July 6th sudden beat it out of Bagram base. It should be investigated to unearth the underlying factors as it is not a good image for America, particularly American military who did all they were asked to do in Afghanistan, plus more, only for those politically skewed officials in Washington DC to fumble the ball at the final hour. If only they had concentrated on their professional role as defenders of America from its foreign enemies and not mired themselves in Washington DC domestic Woke politics, possibly the mission in Afghanistan would have flawlessly and smoothly concluded without the dent that is the ruckus at Kabul airport. 

But thankfully, the Taliban have managed to maintain order so far in the rest of the city of Kabul, and there is no major or total break down of law and order. Their swift move into Kabul averted an otherwise assured complete anarchy which the corrupt and inept President Ashraf Ghani's cowardly abrupt flee would have brought down on Kabul. Taliban should be commended for this, albeit most reluctantly. General Frank McKenzie have some explaining to do on why the effort he was charged with the task ended with such a thumbing down at the tailed of it. As for the defense secretary and other chiefs at the Pentagon, their commander in chief should decide if their performance warrant commendation, promotion, being written up, demoted or even fired for a job not so well done, at least in the eyes of the world. #SupportsTheDecision.

TALIBAN LEADERSHIP SURVIVED: SO, WHO THEN WERE KILLED OR CAPTURED?

ICHEOKU says it appears that all the Taliban leaders who American troops went to Afghanistan to hunt down, kill or capture, survived after-all. They are doing well and now readying themselves to resume their power holding venture in Afghanistan. Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Halbatullah Akhundzada, co-founder and political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Khalil Haqqani of the Haqqani Network, fearsome mujahideen Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, Adbul Qatar and other well known Taliban top heavies apparently survived the 20 years hunt for them. So, who then was killed in the American led "search and kill"  of Taliban mission to Afghanistan since even the one-eyed Mujahideen Mullah Mohammed Omar died of natural causes. What happened in Afghanistan since the proverbial head of snake was not cut off; or has American people been had all this past twenty years, lied to, fed with propaganda and absolutely brainwashed about the American military and intelligence exploits in Afghanistan. 

With this background, is it then possible that conspiracy theorists who maintain that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden is still alive might after-all be right or have strong basis for their assertion? As a disclaimer, ICHEOKU says believes that he is dead based on that telling released photograph of a flinching Hillary Clinton. With this many Taliban leaders still alive and left unscathed, what then has America troops been doing the last twenty years, "fighting" the Taliban in Afghanistan. Was it by design or did the Taliban outsmart American military and intelligence operatives in Afghanistan. Without decimating the Taliban leadership, how did America leadership not know that the group might eventually resurrect, regroup and make a bid back to power in Kabul. 

Is there something which we are not being told or was it the plan from the get go, just in case the experiment with democracy did not turn out right and America did not want to leave Afghanistan without some form of a controlling authority. Is it possible that the Taliban coming back to power was meticulously orchestrated by the same forces who went to Afghanistan to put them out of commission? A report out of Pakistan claims that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was once arrested and imprisoned by the Pakistani authorities but that Washington DC pressured  Pakistan president to release him and then put him in a safe asylum in Qatar. So, is the Taliban the eventual backup plan by America when they leave Afghanistan, aware that the government in place was inept  to secure Afghanistan. 

ICHEOKU says does not have sufficient information to make a conclusion one way or the other; but maintains that the fact that all these Taliban leaders survived after twenty years of manhunt for them, with all the sophisticated listening gadgets and surveillance capabilities of America on the ground, is an indication that possibly some backroom deals were made with the understanding that they will eventually step in and take over once America leaves. This equally possibly explains the easy with which the negotiation with the Taliban was established as channels of cooperating were already in place and the Taliban leadership was willing and able to meet America half way. It also possibly explains why the Afghanistan government of President Ashraf Ghani was sidelined and totally shut out throughout the negotiations. 

What is going on people? Why are they not sharing with the world the real reason Taliban was allowed to return back to power in Afghanistan, disguised as a successful Taliban military routing of Afghanistan National Army (ANA). Why was the withdrawal mission short-circuited by over one month, with those charged with the withdrawal process abandoning Afghanistan more than one month earlier on July 6th before the scheduled August 31st date of final withdrawal. Why did they leave Afghanistan by stealth and in the middle of the night, without even notifying the Afghanistan commander who took over or was to take over Baghram military base, at least as a courtesy that they were leaving? Was their relationship and lack of trust and respect for the Ashraf Ghani's government so low that they considered him unworthy.

ICHEOKU says saw a documentary on British Camp Bastion where Afghanistan new commander was complaining that the British army stripped bare the camp; and that if the concrete barriers were not too heavy for their plane, that it was possible they would also taken them as they left. Even some vehicles and equipments on the base were destroyed and blown up by the departing British army, leaving only generators and some officers dwelling portakabins and watch towers, but without the things which would aided the new Afghanistan soldiers to effectively maintain a hold on the base. There are just so many moving parts, whirling at such a dizzying high speed, that nobody actually knows what exactly really happened in Kabul. Stuff as were captured on video in Kabul airport do not necessarily happen with advanced military forces, which normally plans and provides for every imaginable contingencies, except it was part of a a grand scheme which they didn't know will be televised.

Hopefully, these are not too intrusive questions; but the videos and pictures of an unmanaged pandemonium at Kabul airport were otherwise avoidable, and if only those charged with the task  of completing the withdrawal had done their jobs as expected. But they were rather penny wise pound foolish, as they cut and ran with still more than one month time frame left in their schedule. They could have gotten it right at one try, instead, they are now back to try and clean the mess which they created by their action. The more than thirty days which they shaved off would have been more than enough for an orderly complete evacuation of even hundreds of thousands of people (9k per day), including the twenty thousand plus minus Americans in Afghanistan. 

It calls for accountability and since none of them have fallen on their sword just yet, hopefully Joe Biden will man up and ask for their resignations or rather just fire them for failing in their mission to execute his order on the final withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is also possible that they intentionally sabotaged the mission to discredit America's withdrawal from Afghanistan and use it to push for an extension. But thankfully, Joe Biden is standing squarely firm to ensure that the Afghanistan mission was finally ended. It is what majority of American people want and Joe Biden serves at their behest; and acts based on what is in their best interest. As for all those countries in Europe and Britain mouthing off, how many of their country men and women were lost in Afghanistan and what amount of resources did they expend in Afghanistan. 

The combined total loss in blood and treasure of all the NATO members combined are less than one half of the total loss by America. It is not fair nor equitable and they have no moral grounds to condemn or even question America's withdrawal from Afghanistan. They should know that they are also free to continue with the mission on their own if they so chooses. The population of Europe and United Kingdom put together is close to a billion people (801 million); as opposed to America's mere 350 million people, yet America bore most of the burden involved. This explains their mouthing off because they are not the one doing the heavy lifting and merely rode shotgun alongside America. They should therefore hush as America has smartened up not to be used and abused any longer by our so called allies in name only. 

Good enough the Taliban are gradually securing their country and very soon, law and order will be fully restored in Afghanistan so that they can continue a smooth running of operation build back better of Afghanistan. With it done, the orchestrated mess at the Kabul airport will become a thing of a distant past, left in the rearview memory where it rightly belongs. With that done, the  curtain on the overextended mission in Afghanistan will finally be drawn shut, closed for good. Once again, ICHEOKU says the decision to end the Afghanistan mission was a right one and Joe Biden will be favorably remembered for having the guts to finally do what other past presidents wanted to do, but were pressured out of doing. Afghanistan is for Afghanis and the Talibans too are Afghanis. Let them be allowed and supported as they run their country. 

HAITI IN DIRE STRAIT: SHAME ON AMERICAN MEDIA BIAS, HAITIAN BLACK LIVES MATTER.

ICHEOKU says America's neighbor Haiti is so desperately in need and already nearly flatlined while America spent a mind boggling amount of resources "nation-building" in far away Afghanistan, thousands of miles away in Central Asia. Imagine what a fraction of the $2 trillion wasted on Afghanistan could have done in Haiti and helped it stood a better chance each time a natural disaster struck. Haiti is presently reeling on its back, totally deprived and in dire need of practically every life sustaining things including food, water, medicines and shelter. But the world is not paying much attention to Haiti as most of American media are directing focus elsewhere, ginning up the airport snafu in Kabul as if the world has come to an end; and not giving enough coverage to the disaster in Haiti where so much help is needed and should be surged to. 

Meanwhile only about 12 people have lost their lives in Afghanistan since Kabul fell to the Taliban, but in Haiti, more than 2,194 people have lost their lives and 12,000 others seriously wounded since the earthquake struck the island; with several hundred others believed still trapped beneath the rubbles. But instead of putting more of world's focus on such naturally more pressing situation, the American media and their Western allies have diverted attention from Haiti to Afghanistan and you wonder if the color of the victims has anything to do with. Speaking of Black Lives Matter and you wonder if Haitians black lives do in fact really matter as well. 

Millions of Haitians, including women and few days old babies are sleeping in the open, being re-traumatized by storm, cold rains and wind. Many of them are without food and water for several days now; many of the 12,000 injured have not been seen nor treated by doctors and their open wound is festering with every minute left untreated. Most of their homes have been damaged and destroyed by the earthquake. They are literary desolate and abandoned; and above all they are just a few miles south of Florida, inside America's sphere of geopolitical influence and figuratively, America's backyard. 

But nobody in Washington DC, including Kamala Harris who is black herself, whose father is Jamaican, a neighboring country to Haiti, has lifted their voices loudly and powerfully enough to be heard over the tragedies in Haiti. Even America's Black Lives Matter Inc has mostly remained indifferent to the suffering in Haiti; but the same confused people raised hell when Israel was defending itself from the Hamas terrorists who were firing rockets into Israel just a few months ago, shouting that Palestinian lives matter. ICHEOKU says how about Haitian lives, they are black or are they not black enough to be considered worthy for BLM Inc to intervene? 

It is obvious that something is inertly wrong with black people as they do not seem to care about their own, otherwise why would Kamala Harris be in Washington DC and BLM have the power they have in America and the situation in Haiti is this horrible. Haiti was still suffering from the assassination of their President Jovenel Mosie when the earthquake struck, killed over two thousand Haitians and injured more than twelve thousand others. Before that, the earthquake which struck them in 2010 killed over 300,000 Haitians and nearly completely wiped out their infrastructure including their Presidential palace. Hasn't Haiti suffered enough for America to meaningfully help them?

Where was America's large scale response to help Haiti recover? Instead, America was busy spending trillions of dollars in Afghanistan while steady ignoring Haiti. If this is not racism on steroid, nothing else so qualifies. Even when Haiti pleaded with Washington DC to send some troops to help them secure their country following the assassination of their president, Washington DC refused. But Afghanistan did not even ask for any American help, yet two trillion American dollars were gratuitously wasted there, including over two thousand killed American soldiers and over 20,00 wounded others, all which America has now abandoned and America  beaten a retreat from. 

Query, does Haiti have to first become a terrorist country or a terrorist sponsor or even allow China or Russia to establish a military base in their country before Washington DC will consider them worthy of receiving much needed attention and help from America. Such a treatment does not bode well for good neighborliness nor does it encourage good behavior. Is the country being punished for being good to America and for not allowing their territory to fall into the wrong hands or America's arch enemies as well as to those wishing to do harm to America. 

It is sad and it should sadden everyone with any modicum of conscience, the pictures coming out of Haiti with women and children without food or water or shelter, being beaten by cold rain and shivering under tents being blown apart by gutsy winds. It is a shame of America and all American media as well as those in leadership position in Washington DC should cover their faces in their shame of hypocrisy. Charity should begin from home, in America's own area of influence, and not in far away desolate Afghanistan which does not even want Americans on their soil nor appreciative of the great sacrifices, both in blood and treasure, made for them by America. 

It is time for a new American foreign policy initiative to emerge that will be Western hemisphere centric; as opposed to the pretentious savior of the entire world projection of power globally. It is disheartening watching the videos out of Haiti and it is only a ruthlessly, heartless vermin that would not be touched by the conditions which those Haitians have been plunged into, especially for a people who did not have much to begin with. ICHEOKU says Joe Biden and Kamala Harris must do something about Haiti in order to encourage those Caribbean nations to continue to remain good neighbors of America and not tempt them into getting ideas that will be inimical to the interest of the West. They deserve better and they sure could use a sort of Marshal Plan to build back better their country and help them have a better life. 

Even some countries including Israel and Mexico that usually rush in to help earthquake victims and victims of other disasters have for the most part remained aloof and disinterested in going to help Haiti. Where is American Navy hospital ships Mercy and  Comfort or are 12000 injured Haitians, whose country's hospitals were damaged and not even functioning properly before the earthquake, not sufficient enough to elicit steaming those hospital ships to the shores of Port-au-Prince? Are there no American Naval assets in Florida or in the Caribbean with helicopters to help evacuate the wounded to hospitals in Florida to help them at this time of great need in their country. As for those "gangs" blocking off access, they cannot be worse than the Taliban or ISIS or even Al-Qaeda and should be summarily exterminated. 

To American media, it is double shame on them as they barely mention Haiti acute suffering and for the fleeting seconds they do, merely superficially, without their journalists on the ground to really bring home the level of disaster for the world, particularly American people, to see and appreciate. Some foreign media are even doing a better coverage of the Haiti tragic conditions more than their American counterparts. It is such a dearth of coverage that no America media was present to cover the press conference of Haitian Prime Minister about the Haitian disaster; but any of them have many journalists in Kabul competing on top of their lungs to bring to world's attention how horrible the Taliban is. It is inexplicably very sad. It is a shame. #HelpHaiti.

TRUMP IS WRONG: ASKING BIDEN TO RESIGN IS A CHEAP POLITICAL SHOT.

ICHEOKU says it is the politicians who do not want the current Afghanistan crisis to go to waste that are ratcheting up the temperature and blaming Joe Biden for the minor hiccups in Afghanistan. He is doing what other American presidents should have done since this past twenty years. They all dreamt about doing it but failed, as they succumbed to the pressure of the military industrial complex who would rather the Afghanistan engagement continued indefinitely. It was their golden egg layer and they salivated for it to last in perpetuity. Joe Biden understands fully the game which they play and was resolute in calling off their bluff and he did so. He has demonstrated a steely backbone and every well meaning American is grateful that he finally cut the losses and got America out of that boondoggle. 

No matter the withdrawal date, the outcome would have most likely still been the same, there will always be the usually associated hitches and glitches. But this should not defeat the merit in the decision. The 300,000 "well trained" and "well equipped" Afghanistan national army are members of the Taliban and would have still sabotaged the process by refusing to defend their country from their colleagues, the invading Taliban fighters. The Taliban spokesman Zubaiullah Mujahid even acknowledged that much when he said that they took over Kabul without losing a single fighter or firing a direct shot at anybody, including any Afghanistan soldier. So, how else does anyone expect Joe Biden to have avoided the outcome since it was an internal conspiracy and sabotage by the same people trained and equipped to forestal and prevent it such an outcome that facilitated it. 

So, when a president and commander in chief of a country fled and his national army and other security outfits disappeared, how else would there not be a breakdown of law and order in such a situation. The Taliban spokesman also said that they did not plan to enter Kabul until a workable arrangement was reached on a smooth transfer of power; but were forced to rush in to secure Kabul when they learnt that the moribund government of President Ashraf Ghani was  instigating disorderly activities and planned to blame it on the Taliban. According to him, their preemptive entering into Kabul prevented looting, rioting, burning and other disorderly behaviors and manners of criminalities which are usually associated with such sudden toppling of a government in power. 

So, why would anybody blame Joe Biden under the circumstances except they want to hurt him politically by portraying him as very weak and feeble. Had President Donald John Trump still been in the White House and the same circumstances presented themselves during his planned and supervised May 1st 2021 earlier withdrawal date, it would have been the same outcome.  Nothing would have stopped the Taliban from doing then, exactly what they did now; a matter made more convincing because they had refused to agree to many of the laid down conditions by the Trump's negotiating team. In fact, they literary dictated the terms of the agreement to a large extent and forced the Trump team to the May 1st withdrawal deadline or they will unleash mayhem in the country. 

Therefore let nobody try to convince anyone that Trump would have been more successful with the withdrawal of forces than Joe Biden because it is not true. Using the madness of the Afghanis to score a political point against Joe Biden by asking him to resign is uncalled for. Now is not the time to make reclamations as many American lives, civilian and military, are still in danger in Afghanistan. Every effort should be concentrated on ensuring their safe evacuation and return back to America and that the Taliban does not take them hostage or use them as a leverage to secure whatever concession they want, including an outright and unconditional recognition by Washington DC. Joe Biden therefore needs all the concentration he can muster right now, instead of worrying about any political fallout flowing from attacks by his political foes.

American political leaders on both sides must be seen to stand together and speak with one voice that no harm must come to American citizens and military being evacuated from Kabul. They should show total support to Joe Biden and stand with him squarely on the decision to end the America's longest running war as it was a decision taken in the interest of America people. It is also imperative that those people who have no wards, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, uncles and aunties and other relatives in active service, who have been going on repeat deployments into Afghanistan and constantly being exposed in harm's way, should be heard less about an over extended American military presence in Afghanistan. 

These people do not wear the shoes and do not particularly know how it hurts to lose a loved one in a senseless battle or for them to come home with their life completely destroyed. These people can pontificate all they want about the needs of the Afghanistan people, but in matters affecting lives, limbs and mental equilibrium of our fighting men and women, who have been stretched beyond tolerable safe limits in Afghanistan, they should maintain their silence and not be heard. President Donald John Trump never served in the military, neither did his parents, brothers and sisters, children and in-laws and should therefore be the last person to condemn Joe Biden's effort to save more American soldier from dying in the sands of Afghanistan. 

President Donald JohnTrump should rather be grateful that Joe Biden is standing "squarely" in seeing through the agreement which Trump himself entered with the Taliban. At least, it will be the only legacy of his which Joe Biden adopted and did not cancel; and therefore find a way to claim a joint credit for finally bringing the over extended Afghanistan engagement to an end. But actually, Joe Biden owns it all because it was under his watch that the Afghanistan war finally ended, regardless of the current snafus. ICHEOKU is a bona fide MAGAnite and a strong supporter of President Donald John Trump, so making this criticism did not come easily; but it is the right thing to do because Joe Biden got his decision "squarely" right on this matter. 

It is pointless helping a people who do not want to be helped or even help themselves. They refused to fight in defense of their country. Their president fled. Their military displayed such cowardice in the field of battle that they easily melted away. Who did Afghanis expect to continue to fight and die to defend their country when they would not. Their actions showed that Afghanistan is not worth dying for and following their example is the best thing to do. As they lead, so will the rest of the world now follow, including America. Joe Biden did not send the troops into Afghanistan. Joe Biden did not enter an agreement with the Taliban. Joe Biden is merely following through with an ongoing withdrawal process of American troops from Afghanistan which majority of American people supports and "squarely" stand with him. 

ICHEOKU appreciates Joe Biden for having such a testicular fortitude to see the withdrawal  through despite the opposition. It is the real test of a man and he has shown that he is made of a sterner stuff. So, thank you Joe Biden for finally ending the Afghanistan debacle. ICHEOKU commends and stands with Joe Biden squarely as he supervises the final vestiges of American troops engagement in Afghanistan. It is the right thing to do and doing right always comes with detractors derisiveness. History will credit him handsomely for standing squarely with the correct decision and American people are grateful. #StandWithBiden. 

 #StandWithJoeBiden.

ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF AFGHANISTAN: THE UNNECESSARY TALIBAN BAD HYSTERIA.

ICHEOKU says the Western world is needlessly hyperventilating over the return to power in Afghanistan of the Taliban and thus creating an otherwise avoidable panic and tension in the country and among other concerned peoples of the world. It is just a change of power and the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not be any different to other Islamic enclaves which Western nations deal with and maintain cordial relationships with. 

The Chicken Little's "sky is falling" hysteria being generated just because another Islamic Emirate has emerged under the Taliban in Afghanistan is therefore a needless stir of emotions. It should stop and stop immediately in order to avoid creating more problems in that part of the world and by extension, for the entire world which is still reeling under the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, particularly version delta; and an economy largely in many places still comatose. 

Creating another refugee problem in Afghanistan when there are so many IDP camps in various parts of the world is not a smart move. Rohingya Muslims are largely still displaced in hundreds of thousands, so those countries seeking to now take in Afghanistan refugees should pay attention to the already existing refugees and not create more by their sponsored anti Taliban media blitz. 

The new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) should therefore be given a chance to bloom; and their new Taliban leadership given the benefit of the doubt to first prove themselves before any further condemnation. They have made promises and given assurances; and it is now imperative that they live up to their promised deliverables. Governance can never be a one cap fits all maximum decree because the Greeks who bequeathed the world democracy never intended it to be that way. 

This is the reason United Kingdom operates a pseudo monarchical parliamentary government and the United States have a republican system of government, and some other countries such as Nigeria have a direct democracy. Afghanistan should therefore be allowed to chose whatever form of governance that suits them and the rest of the world must butt out of their internal affairs domestic matter and let them paddle their canoe as they best see fit. 

If Western nations are looking for places to "nation-build", there are a lot of such places within their hemisphere needing urgent attention. For America, such a place as Haiti could use all the "nation-building" help they can get. For colonial Europe and Britain, there are so many of their colonized African countries which can use a lot of help in having their nations built back better. But a now failed mission to westernize Afghanistan under the color of "nation building" should not create such a hoopla as the world is now witnessing. They did not want it and have rejected it, so the matter should be left alone. 

But how exactly is Afghanistan any different from Saudi Arabia when compared with the rights which Taliban is accused of violating in the past and being terrorists and sponsoring terrorism. Recall that 19 of the 20 terrorists who hijacked planes and flew them into World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville Pennsylvania were all Saudi nationals. None of them was an Afghanistan national, admitted the then ruling Taliban in Afghanistan gave Osama bin Laden shelter and we were also told that the planning of 9/11 attack took place in Afghanistan. 

ICHEOKU is not holding brief for the Taliban but maintains that Western nations will be better served if they accept the reality that is Afghanistan now under the Taliban; and respect the wishes of majority of Afghanis who prefer Taliban to the corrupt and inept government of President Ashraf Ghani. We may not like what happened or the apparent humiliation of Western powers by the rag tag Taliban fighters, but it is their country and they reserve the right to do with it as they please. 

We went there to preach the gospel of democracy and help build back better their country, but they have overwhelmingly rejected the gifts. It does not matter that a few of them embrace it, but majority still rules. Joe Biden is in the White House today not because every American voted for him; so, it will be naive to expect every Afghani to be in support of the Taliban before we accept them as legitimate government in Kabul. 

Even the various mujahideen who were attacking and killing American soldiers did not stand up to the Taliban because they too are Taliban. Then add the 300,000 "well trained" and "well equipped" military who did not confront the Taliban and as Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed at his press conference, Taliban entered Kabul and took the presidential palace without suffering a single casualty. 

Throughout their incursion, Taliban did not meet any serious challenge or confrontation and it took them only 7 days to capture the entire Afghanistan, including the presidential palace. Which other army in the world has ever achieved such an incredible military feat at such a lightening speed, except that the Taliban were not challenged nor confronted because the so called national army of Afghanistan were all members of Taliban. They aided and abetted the outcome as it was a willful surrender of power by the President Ashraf Ghani led government. 

So, any one expecting something different than the outcome is naive, to say the least. Taliban rule is what Afghanistan people want because the 20 years of democracy experiment brought so much corruption, ineptitude and decay in the land and they craved the old ways. Taliban spokesman even made allusion to the homelessness which has become the new order in Kabul as Afghanis openly used drugs on the streets of Kabul. It is their country and they should be allowed to drive it in whichever direction they see fit. 

The fact that Afghanis did not want to fight the Taliban and indeed refused to fight them shows that they are all incohoot in the outcome; and therefore they should be left alone to their Taliban devices. The good news is that the Taliban have indicated interest to be an improved version of the old Taliban which the world used to know and we should be hopeful. The press conference is helpful and their effort to woo the world should be applauded, received with open hands and in turn, reciprocated. The world should accommodate them and gradually nudge them towards moderation like Turkey or Dubai styled Islamic enclave; but they must not be pushed away through retaliatory sanctions and diplomatic isolation. 

They have indicated their interest to play and the world must indulge them. They want to be on the dinner table, the world should put them on the invite list and then educate them on the etiquette of the dinner table, that instead of shovel and rake, spoon and fork are the ideal cutleries. Yes, they can come to dinner but must drop their rakes and shovels and come with spoon and fork. It is called meeting them half way and that way, they will gradually be tamed and brought to the mainstream.  

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid gave assurances that Taliban 2.0 will be different from the acute Taliban 1.0 of the 90s, which memory of repression still haunts the world till this day. The spokesman said they are an improved Taliban and the world must now allow them necessary accommodation to show their cards. Therefore, it is in the interest of everyone, both the West and the Afghanis, that the created hysteria ends immediately so that Afghanis can continue to build back better their society. But causing severe brain drain in Afghanistan, through a needless panic induced evacuation, will only halt whatever progress that have been made this past twenty years and will eventually torpedo Afghanistan and drive it back into the once failed state which it was back in the 90s. 

The evacuation of Afghanistan citizens should be halted immediately and in its place exact pressure on Taliban to respect the rights of their citizens. It is their country and they owe it as a duty to help save it from total ruination. Instead of draining their much needed brain power and general manpower, the West should plug into its contacts in the Arab and Islamic world to help put a leech on the Taliban and encourage, supervise and stir them towards moderation. They are likely to become better over time with necessary prodding, understanding them and showing them a respectful behavior. 

Life is dynamic and the Taliban cannot survive, remaining adamant and impervious to world expectations. Nobody knew that Israel will ever mend fences with the Arab/Muslim world, so there is a possibility that the Taliban will eventually turn the corner and reform their ways in order to fit into a new world order. They have already given their word to respect the rights of women to work, media to freely operate, security and safety guarantee for everyone in Afghanistan, general amnesty for all and to ensure that Afghanistan is a terrorism and narcotics free country, among other things. 

These are sufficient assurances to earn them the benefit of the doubt; and like President Ronald Reagan once said to trust but first verify, the world must now step aside and wait for the Taliban to put their money where their mouth is. It is only if they fail to live up to their promised expectations that any condemnation or gang up against them will be justified. Afghanistan reserved the right to choose the type of government they want just like other countries of the world, the world must now respect the choice which they made. 

A new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not be any worse than all the other Islamic enclaves of the world which the Western world deals with. The most important thing is their expressed intention to do better and the West should explore ways of encouraging them fulfill this pledge. The Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which the West deals with does not accord women rights including something as basic as the right to drive a car. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman even butchered a Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi yet the West looked the other way. 

So, why all the "pants on fire" outcry about Taliban's suppression of women's rights and freedom of the media in Afghanistan, when such freedoms does not exist in Saudi Arabia. If the West is trying to genie up hysteria to distract and refocus attention away from the humiliation of 20 years wasted effort, it is regrettable because Taliban has not done anything worst than Saudi Arabia. Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Brunei, Libya and so many other Islamic enclaves whose "cultures" and "traditions" the West respects are not any different either; so why the effort to isolate Afghanistan? 

A "wait and see" approach on how Taliban proceeds in their second coming is the best way going forward. A more rational world should own up that the 20 years experiment on westernizing Afghanistan has failed and that Taliban is now the true legitimate government in Kabul. So, instead of the current trashing around in great trepidation that Taliban has taken over power in Afghanistan, they should focus their attention on how to manage the new situation and how to co-exist with the Taliban. 

Twenty years is a long time and a lot of changes have taken place including among the Taliban. The Taliban of today cannot be the same Taliban of of the 90s under the one-eyed Mullah Mohammed Omar. It is unlikely they will be as ruthless as they were before as present Afghanistan society might not tolerate such stringent Islamic condition without some form of resistance. 

The Taliban will not have an option but to accommodate some changes commensurate to a society that has been under "democracy" for the past twenty years, no matter how little. The West should use such opening to build more influence and use it as a leverage over the Taliban. Maintaining diplomatic and economic relations with the Taliban will be a better approach as it will help in drawing them closer and then the opportunity to cajole them to do more. 

But if they are isolated and excommunicated or pushed away by economic strangulation and/or diplomatic icing, it will infuriate them and possibly force them back into their old ways, aware that America have lost the appetite to continue the fight. The Taliban have also been traveling around the world through Qatar and other Islamic States friends of theirs, and have seen that modernity can co-exist with Islam and they will want the same for their Afghanistan as well. 

At worst, the West should treat them as a situation of keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer; but whatever happens, the hysteria should be allowed to die down. It must stop and the massive evacuation of Afghanis must also be put on hold as it is doing more harm to Afghanistan than it is helping. Those brain powers and manpower are needed for Afghanistan to help it continue to build back better. #EndThePanic.

TALIBAN: THE FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE.

“We have expelled the foreigners and I would like to congratulate the whole nation on this. This is pride, not only for a limited number of people. This is a proud moment for the whole nation. This kind of pride is rare when it can be achieved. The whole nation, after the whole history of the nation and therefore, on the base of this I would like to congratulate the whole nation and I would like to welcome you.

Freedom and independence seeking is a legitimate right of every nation. The Afghans also use their legitimate right after 20 years of struggle for freedom and for emancipating the country from occupation, this was our right and we achieved this right. And we would like to express our gratitude to almighty God for having brought us to this stage. I would like to thank God for giving freedom to this nation. The Islamic Emirate, after freedom of this nation is not going to seek revenge on anybody, we don’t have any grudges against anybody.

We know that we have been undergoing really challenging periods and crises, a lot of mistakes that were made that were an advantage to the occupiers. We want to make sure that Afghanistan is not the field of conflict, a battlefield of conflict anymore. We have pardoned anyone, all those who had fought against us. We don’t want to repeat any conflict anymore again. We want to do away with the factors for conflict. Therefore, the Islamic Emirate does not have any kind of hostility or animosity with anybody; animosities have come to an end and we would like to live peacefully. We don’t want any internal enemies and any external enemies. 

Undoubtedly, we are at a very historical stage. Our countrymen and women who have been waiting, I would like to assure that after consultations that are going to be completed very soon, we will be witnessing the formation of a strong Islamic and inclusive government, Inshallah, God willing. As the forces of the Islamic Emirate enter Kabul now this great development that has unfolded, we have not had any casualties. There have been some rioters who wanted to take advantage, wanted to abuse the situation, this was brought to our attention. We realized that that’s what was going on, but we want to assure the residents of Kabul for full security, for protection of their dignity and security and safety.

Security has been assured. God willing, day by day there will be more security. After ensuring the security, Afghanistan, especially in Kabul, there are embassies. The security of the embassies is very crucial, of crucial importance for us.

First, we would like to assure that the areas where there are embassies, there will be complete security. Therefore all foreign countries and your representatives, your embassies, your missions, international organizations, aid agencies, I would like to assure you that we will not allow anybody to do anything against you. Your security is assured. Our forces are there 24 hours around the clock to ensure your security, undoubtedly. We don’t want to see any kind of chaos, inconvenience in Kabul. 

Our plan was to stop at the gates of Kabul after capturing all other provinces, so that the transition process is completed smoothly without us entering Kabul, so that we stopped troubles and harms and damages. But unfortunately, the previous government was so incompetent. As a result of their actions. Their security forces could not do anything to ensure security and we have to do something, we have to take responsibility. So that was the reason: the abusers and the rioters. They wanted to abuse the name of the Islamic Emirate, to enter houses, or to harass the people or to steal. 

So we, therefore, instructed our forces to enter Kabul to ensure, to stop all this and to ensure security. So we had to do this to enter Kabul to stop those criminals and abusers, so that we ensure the safety and security of the people and the residents of Kabul. Therefore, the residents should be assured that your security is guaranteed.

In the same way, when it comes to the kind of circumstances I would like to ensure, I would like to assure the international community, including the United States that nobody will be a harmed in Afghanistan. I would like to assure our neighbors, regional countries, we are not going to allow our territory to be used against anybody, any country in the world. So the whole global community should be assured that we are committed to these pledges that you will not be harmed in any way from our soil.

 

We would also like to request the international community that we then recognise international boundaries and interactions. We should be treated accordingly. According to this framework, we do not want to have any problem with the international community, we’d like to act on the basis of our principles of our religion, of our culture, and we have given a lot of sacrifices. We have the right to act on the basis of our religious principles and rules and regulations, it’s of the right of Afghans.

Other countries also have different rules, different policies, different viewpoints, different approaches and policies they use and different rules and regulations. In the same way, Afghans also have the right to have their own rules and regulations and policies so that their advantage from the profit of the nation of the people, so that they’re in accordance with our values, so nobody should be worried about our norms and principles.

The issue of women is very important. The Islamic Emirate is committed to the rights of women within the framework of Sharia. Our sisters, our men have the same rights; they will be able to benefit from their rights. They can have activities in different sectors and different areas on the basis of our rules and regulations: educational, health and other areas. They are going to be working with us, shoulder to shoulder with us. The international community, if they have concerns, we would like to assure them that there’s not going to be any discrimination against women, but of course within the frameworks that we have. Our women are Muslim. They will also be happy to be living within our frameworks of Sharia.

We hope that as soon as conflict has done away with Afghanistan, we are going to build infrastructures of the economy. For this we are going to take actions for economic activities. The interactions with the international community, with other countries are going to continue. We are going to be working on our natural resources and our resources in order to revitalize our economy, for our reconstruction, for our prosperity. Therefore the Islamic Emirate is requesting the whole international community that God willing, we can very soon, actually very quickly can change the situation, the country economically.

Every Afghan wants to improve his or her life. So, the whole community, the whole society will be active in trade, in economics, and we are committed to ensure security and after that to build our society, to serve our nation. We are the servants of the nation. Before that, the benefit of the nation, both in this world and for the next world.

Once again I would like to assure the media, we are committed to media within our cultural frameworks. Private media can continue to be free and independent, they can continue their activities – with some requests for the media.

One, is that Islam is a very important value in our country and nothing should be against Islamic values. When it comes to the activities of the media therefore, Islamic values should be taken into account when it comes to the activities of the media, when it comes to developing your programmes. Therefore, the media should be impartial. Impartiality of the media is very important. They can critique our work, so that we can improve.

So you, young in the media should also pay attention to the [inaudible] so that we can serve the nation in a better way. And you should also want to work accordingly, the same way. It’s very important that the Afghans are giving a lot of importance to their national values, national unity, national consensus. The media should not work against this national values, against national unity. When it comes to ethnic differences, religious differences and hostilities, they should not be actually promoted by the media, they should work on the country for the unity of the nation to have peaceful brotherly living together.

Once again I express my gratitude to all of you for participating in our press conference. So the names are going to be read out. I’m here to serve you. We’re going to have more press conferences. So today we have maybe less time than in the future. I just came from a trip. I just want to make sure you’re not going to wait for me. So we’ll have a lot of time to discuss in the future. The questions are going to be asked now. I’m going to answer all of the questions.

XXX

The first question is from Al Jazeera. Everybody will have a chance to ask questions. Charlotte Bellis from Al Jazeera. The question was about women’s rights. The question is, what kind of guarantee is going to be provided for ensuring women’s rights.

As I mentioned earlier, we are going to allow women to work and study within certain frameworks. Women are going to be very active in the society, but within the frameworks of Islam. Women are a key part of society and we are guaranteeing all their rights within the limits of Islam.

I would like to assure all the compatriots, whether they were translators, whether they were with military activities or whether they were civilians, all of them have been important. Nobody is going to be treated with revenge. Both youth who have talents, who have grown up here, who are from this country, we don’t want them to leave. These are our assets, we would like them to stay here, to serve.

We would like to assure you that nobody is going to knock on their door to inspect them, to ask them or to interrogate them as to who they have been working for or interpreting for. So I would like to assure you that no harm is going to be [done]. They’re going to be safe. As for the contractor that was, perhaps gone missing as reported by the media, we do not have any information about him at the moment.

I would like to assure you that in your homes nobody is going to harm you, no one is going to knock on your door, no one is going to be interrogated or chased. Those who have knocked on people’s doors to inspect their houses, this are abusers and they will be chased and investigated.

Thousands of soldiers who have fought us for 20 years, after the occupation, all of them have been pardoned. Those with families at the airport waiting, if they come back to their homes, no one is going to do anything to them; they will be safe. No one is going to inspect them there, we give them confidence.

We have fought for everybody and this is for the benefit of stability and peace in Afghanistan. All factions are fathers from A to Z. God forbid, we haven’t done anything intentional against anybody. If during the war and conflict somebody has been harmed unintentionally then, this is one of the side effects of conflict for 20 years. A huge occupying force was defeated. This way it was impossible for us to free the country, and demand the country without injuries, without injuries, without harms, without being hurt. You know that some people have even committed suicide. Unwittingly, somebody does something like that. If somebody has been harmed as a result of these activities, these are, of course, understandable. They are side effects of war. But I would like to assure you, I’d like to guarantee that no harm inflicted on the nation has been intentional – they have been the side effects of war that have been technical problems, and other unfortunate side effects and incidents.

You know that the political situation changed in the city: robberies, and crimes started to emerge but we have to take actions to stop them. Within a short period of  time we managed to do so; we wanted to; we had to stop the instability. So, they have to be controlled. So, we have to come up with a set of actions with the different regions of the city. We will bring back complete normalcy and stability … for Afghanistan, we’ll never abuse any assets. Those for example, that are armed, they have to be disarmed.

I should be reminded that emancipating the country was a great, noble cause, to get rid of the occupiers, without which we could not form our government. So negotiations were taking place for 18 months, we had a strong team in Qatar. But then it was sabotaged. Some warmongers sabotaged it. This previous government actually announced a six-month plan for war against us, so for another six months, we were going to witness killings of our children, of our compatriots.

Our struggle was to form the Islamic government. Anyway, our fighters, our people who were involved in this struggle, we are all going to make sure that we can include all other sides and factions from all segments of the society. That’s been a struggle for those whose lives have been lost as a result of fighting for the enemy. This was their own fault. You could see that we managed to control the whole country in a matter of days, but we’re not arrogant for this.

We have instructed everyone not to enter anybody’s house, whether they’re civilians or military. There’s a huge difference between us and the previous government. When we form the government, when everybody sees their position, their place, then you will see. The kind of situations … is a kind of military situation. After formation of the government, everything will be more clear.

This question is based on ideology and value systems. Our nation is a Muslim nation, whether it was 20 years ago, or whether it was now. But when it comes to experience and maturity and vision, of course, there’s a huge difference between us, in comparison to 20 years ago. There will be a difference when it comes to the actions we’re going to take, this has been like an evolutionary complimentary sort of process.

Let’s talk about the law after the government is formed. They’re going to decide what kind of laws are going to be presented to the nation. This will be the due responsibility of the future governments, with the participation of all people. One thing to say – we are seriously now working on forming the government. I would like to assure you, it will be announced.

We have all the borders under our control. There is not going to be any case of smuggling of weapons. All the weapons that are being used in fighting are going to be collected and compiled and registered. Contact consultations are being carried out soon, you will be aware of it soon.

This question should be asked to those people who are claiming to be promoters of freedom of speech. Do not allow publication of all information, news, I can ask Facebook company. This question should be asked to them.

Let’s give some more time to the international media. When it comes to your first question, we have captured for the last three days in any province, there hasn’t been any case of murder, there is full security across the country. Our poet has been kidnapped – we are going to follow up with this – our poets, our talented people should not be harmed, this should be stopped. The current situation is like, resembles a martial law kind of situation. It will soon come back to normal. No one will be able to kidnap anyone.

Compare now to last week, for example; there’s a huge difference. Nobody’s losing their life anymore. We are going to have more and more security, day by day. Those who have left the country – we don’t want anybody to be out of the country. This is the country, this is our common homeland, we have common values, common religion and common nation. We would like to come under the umbrella of these commonalities. We have undergone these problems and difficulties within this public amnesty, general amnesty, so no animosity is going to be followed up.

We are assuring our countrymen and women and the international community, we will not produce any narcotics. In 2001, if you remember, we had brought narcotics content production to zero in 2001, but our country was unfortunately occupied by then and the way was paved for reproduction of narcotics even at the level of the government – everybody was involved.

But from now on, nobody’s going to get involved, nobody can be involved in drug smuggling. Today, when we entered Kabul, we saw a large number of our youth who were sitting under the bridges or next to the walls and they were using narcotics. This was so unfortunate. I got saddened to see these young people without any faith in the future. From now on, Afghanistan will be a narcotics-free country but it needs international assistance. The international community should help us so that we can have alternative crops. We can provide alternative crops. Then, of course, very soon, we can bring it to an end.

I should mention that Afghanistan will have a strong Islamic government. What the name is going to be, what the specifications are going to be, let’s leave it to the political leaders. They are now conducting serious consultations in this regard, but we can assure you that it will be an Islamic and a strong government on the basis of our values and will not be against the values and benefits of our people.

We will do our most to make sure that everybody is included in the country, even those people against us in the past, so we are going to wait until those announcements are made. Government agencies will be able to start working again very soon. When it comes to women, of course, they will be able to work within the frameworks of our Islamic laws for example in education, in health, in prosecution. Of course, women are needed, they are going to be able be working.

Foreign fighters, one point that Afghanistan soil is not meant to be used against anybody. I should assure the international community, anyone who means to use our land against other countries, we are not going to allow them at all. The government is being formed. The problems are being resolved, our leaders are involved. We are going to announce everything in the next few days, such as that the situation is under control now for a better government. 

The first question about foreign fighters, is that we will not allow any foreigners who wish to harm or threaten the security of the country’s space in Afghanistan. And we have assured this. As for your second question, as for the government setup, we are still working on it. It will be in stages.

Can women continue to work for the media in the same way as in the past?

Just wait and see what the future government is going to say. Our laws, when it comes to media and other essentials are going to be such that everybody should be able to work but within the framework of the Islamic Sharia laws, because currently we can’t actually present you with everything clearly. Just wait for the government, for the laws to be promulgated, and then we will of course be able to observe those laws and regulations.

The question is whether you’re in touch with Dr Abdullah, Hekmatyar and Hamid Karzai. Let’s just say, that very soon we will be witnessing the formation of the government, announcing the government. We will do our most to make sure that we are in touch with all sides, with Dr Abdullah, with others, we have been communicating with them. We’re continuing our communication with them we will do our most to make sure that all Afghans are included. Nobody should be left out, or anybody with interests to serve the nation, they’re not going to be ignored. So the future government will be inclusive. As to when our leader is going to enter the country, enter Kabul, I should mention that very soon. The decision will be made. The government will be announced and all problems will be solved.

We should wait a little bit more, because it’s like an emergency at the moment, we will make sure that everybody’s included, and we’ll have a proper and healthy government.

The question is about the relations with the rest of the world, because as I mentioned before, Afghanistan wants to have very good relations with everybody. In order to revive our economy, in order to ensure prosperity, in order to come out of this current crisis that calls for having really good relations with neighboring countries, with other countries, we are doing our best to make sure that we are communicating with neighboring countries within the framework of international diplomatic frameworks and on the basis of good neighborly agreements and mutual respect.

Thank you so much for coming here. We don’t have enough time, unfortunately, thank you so much for coming. Have a good day.”

IT IS THE RIGHT DECISION - JOE BIDEN.

"Good afternoon. I want to speak today to the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, the developments that have taken place in the last week and the steps we’re taking to address the rapidly evolving events. My national security team and I had been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and are moving quickly to execute the plans we had put in place to respond to every constituency, including any contingency, including the rapid collapse we’re seeing. Now I’ll speak more in a moment about the specific steps we’re taking, but I want to remind everyone how we got here and what America’s interests are in Afghanistan. We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals. Get those who attacked us on September 11th, 2001, and make sure Al-Qaida could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack. Again. We did that. We severely degraded Al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

We never gave up the hunt for Osama bin Laden. And we got him. That was a decade ago. Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy. Our only vital national interests in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on American Homeland. I’ve argued for many years that our mission should be narrowly focused on counter terrorism, not counterinsurgency or nation building. That’s why I opposed the surge when it was proposed in 2009 when I was vice-president. And that’s why as president I’m adamant, we focus on the threats we face today in 2021, not yesterday’s threats. The terrorist threat has metastasized well beyond Afghanistan, El Shabaab in Somalia, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on the loose in Syria, ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and establishing affiliates in multiple countries in Africa and Asia.

These threats warrant our attention and our resources. We conduct effective counter-terrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don’t have permanent military presence. If necessary, we’ll do the same in Afghanistan. We’ve developed counter-terrorism over their rising of capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the direct threats to the United States in the region and act quickly and decisively if needed. When I came into office, I inherited a deal that president Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Under his agreement, US forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1st, 2021, just a little over three months after I took office, US forces that were already drawn down during the Trump administration from roughly 15,500 American forces to 2,500 troops in country. And the Taliban was at its strongest militarily since 2001. The choice I had to make as your president was either to follow through on that agreement, or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season. There would have been no ceasefire after May 1.

There was no agreement protecting our forces after May one, there was no status quo of stability without American casualties. After May one, there was only a cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan, lurching into the third decade of conflict. I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risks we plan for every contingency, but I always promised the American people that I will be straight with you. The truth is this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what’s happened. Afghanistan’s political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight.

If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong, incredibly well-equipped, a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies. We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force. Something that Taliban doesn’t have. The Taliban does not have an air force. We provided close air support. We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future. There’s some very brave and capable Afghan special forces, units, and soldiers.

But Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now, there is no chance that one year, one more year, five more years or 20 more years of US military boots in the ground would have made any difference. Here’s what I believe to my core. It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not. The political leaders of Afghanistan were unable to come together for the good of their people, are unable to negotiate for the future of their country. When the chips were down, they would never have done so while US troops remained in Afghanistan, bearing the brunt of the fighting for them. And our true strategic competitors, China and Russia, would love nothing more than the United States to continue to funnel billions of dollars in resources and attention into stabilizing Afghanistan indefinitely.

When I hosted the president Ghani and chairman of Abdullah at the White House in June, and again, when I spoke by phone to Ghani in July, we had very frank conversations. We talked about how Afghanistan should prepare to fight their civil wars after the U S military department, to clean up the corruption in government. So the government could function for the Afghan people. We talked extensively about the need for Afghan leaders to unite politically. They failed to do any event. I also urged them to engage in diplomacy, to seek a political settlement with the Taliban. This advice was flatly refused. Mr. Ghani insisted that the Afghan forces would fight, but obviously he was wrong.

So I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to the fight Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will now? How many American lives is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. I’m clear on my answer. I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past. The mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict is not in the national interest of the United States, nor is doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country or attempting to remake a country through the endless military deployments of US forces. Those are the mistakes we can not continue to repeat because we have significant vital interest in the world that we cannot afford to ignore.

I also want to acknowledge how painful this is for so many of us. The scenes we’re seeing in Afghanistan. They’re gut-wrenching, particularly for our veterans, our diplomats, humanitarian workers, for anyone who has spent time on the ground, working to support the Afghan people, or those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan, and for Americans who have fought and served in the country, served our country in Afghanistan. This is deeply, deeply personal. It is for me as well. I’ve worked on these issues as long as anyone. I’ve been throughout Afghanistan during this war, while the war was going on, from Kabul to Kandahar to the Qunar valley. I’ve traveled there on four different occasions. I’ve met with the people. I’ve spoken to the leaders. I spent time with our troops and I came to understand firsthand what was and was not possible in Afghanistan. So now we’re focused, focused on what is possible.

We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence and our humanitarian aid. We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability. We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of Afghan people, of women and girls, just as we speak out all over the world, I’ve been clear that human rights must be the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery, but the way to do it is not through endless military deployments. So with our diplomacy or economic tools and rallying the world to join us, well, let me lay out the current mission in Afghanistan.

I was asked to authorize and I did 6,000 us troops to deploy to Afghanistan for the purpose of assisting the departure of US and allied civilian personnel from Afghanistan, and to evacuate our Afghan allies and vulnerable Afghans to safety outside of Afghanistan. Our troops are working to secure the airfield and ensure continued operation of both the civilian and military flights. We’re taking over our air traffic control. We have safely shut down our embassy and transferred our diplomats. Our diplomatic presence is now consolidated at the airport as well. Over the coming days, we intend to transport out thousands of American citizens who’ve been living and working in Afghanistan. We’ll also continue to support the safe departure of civilian personnel, the civilian personnel of our allies, who are still serving Afghanistan. Operation Allies Refugee, which I announced back in July, has already moved 2000 Afghans who are eligible for special immigration visas and their families to the United States.

In the coming days, the US military will provide assistance to move more SIV eligible Afghans and their families out of Afghanistan. We’re also expanding refugee access to cover other vulnerable Afghans who worked for our embassy, US non-governmental organizations and Afghans who otherwise are at great risk in US news agencies. I know there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating Afghan civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier, still hopeful for their country and part of it because the Afghan government and its supporters discouraged the US from organizing a mass exodus to avoid “triggering, as they said, a crisis of confidence. 

American troops are performing this mission as professionally and as effectively as they always do, but it is not without risks. As we carry out this departure, we’ve made it clear to the Taliban that if they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the US presence will be swift, and the response will be swift and forceful. We would defend our people with devastating force if necessary in our current military mission, with shortened time, limited scope and focused on its objectives: get our people and our allies as safely and quickly as possible. And once we have completed this mission, we will conclude our military withdrawal will end America’s longest war. 

After 20 long years of bloodshed, the events we’re seeing now are sadly proof that no amount of military force would ever deliver a stable, united, secure Afghanistan, as known in history as the graveyard of empires. What’s happening now could just as easily happen five years ago, or 15 years in the future, you have to be honest. Our mission in Afghanistan has taken many missteps, made many missteps over the past two decades. I’m now the fourth American president to preside over war in Afghanistan, two Democrats, and two Republicans. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth president. I will not mislead the American people by claiming that just a little more time in Afghanistan will make all the difference, nor will I shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here. I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me.

I’m deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision to end America’s war fighting Afghanistan, and maintain a laser focus on our counter-terrorism missions there and other parts of the world. Our mission to degrade the terrorist threat of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and kill Osama bin Laden was a success. Our decades-long effort to overcome centuries of history and permanently change and remake Afghanistan was not. And I wrote and believed it never could be. I cannot and will not ask our troops to fight on endlessly in another in another country’s civil war, taking casualties, suffering life-shattering injuries, leaving families broken by grief and loss. This is not in our national security interest. It is not what the American people want. It is not what our troops who have sacrificed so much over the past two decades deserve. I made a commitment to the American people.

When I ran for president, I said I’d bring America’s military involvement in Afghanistan to an end. While it’s been hard and messy, and yes, far from perfect, I’ve honored that commitment. More importantly, I made a commitment to the brave men and women who served this nation that I wasn’t going to ask them to continue to risk their lives in a military accident that should’ve have ended up long ago. Our leaders did that in Vietnam when I got here as a young man. I will not do it in Afghanistan. I know my decision will be criticized, but I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision onto another president of the United States, yet another one, a fifth one, because it’s the right one. It’s the right decision for our people, the right one for our brave service members who have risked their lives, serving our nation. And it’s the right one for America. Thank you. May God protect our troops, our diplomats, and all the brave Americans serving in harm’s way." - Joe Biden.