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August 19th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
Biden says troops will stay in Afghanistan for as long as it takes to evacuate all US civilians
Joe Biden has said American troops will stay in Afghanistan until all remaining US citizens —and citizens of American allies — are evacuated from the country after receiving criticism for the chaotic withdrawal of US forces.
In a defensive interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday, Mr Biden said there was no way of avoiding “chaos” by leaving Afghanistan, and that he was committed to evacuating Americans and US allies out before the deadline of 31 August, but that if any US citizens were still in the country, his forces would “stay till we get them all out.”
It follows criticism of the US for failing to evacuate Americans — believed in the be in the region of 10,000 – 15,000 — before the fall of Kabul on Sunday to the Taliban. A further 50,000 – 65,000 Afghans and their families are also awaiting airlifts, fearing reprisal from the Taliban.
A spokesperson for the group said this week it was committed to not attacking US troops, who are currently based at the international airport in Kabul, but that it wanted the US to withdraw by 31 August, which was agreed.
Read more:
Republican figures ramp-up attacks on Biden following interview
Mr Biden was accused of issuing a “bald-faced lie” by Republican senator Tom Cotton, who was among the many voices condemning the US president for saying “chaos” was unavoidable in Afghanistan.
It comes as more than 10,000 Americans and thousands more Afghans remain in the country. They are awaiting evacuation from the Taliban, who surprised the world by retaking Kabul on Sunday within weeks of the US withdrawing from the country.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney said that Mr Biden’s remarks were “truly ignorant and shameful”, and Meghan McCain — the daughter of the late Republican senator John McCain— said the Democrat was “like Jimmy Carter on acid”, in an apparent reference to the American withdrawal from Saigon.
She shared a clip of the chaotic scene around the airport in Kabul, where several people have been shot in recent days.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 12:15
Former CIA officer says ‘probably not’ an intelligence failure
Paul Pillar, a former CIA officer who teaches at Georgetown University, has said in interview that Mr Biden understood the risks of withdrawing from Afghanistan, but that the US president was “functioning as his own principal analyst”.
“The Taliban was eventually going to prevail,” Mr Pillar told the BBC on Wednesday . “But the speed or pace, or when something is going to happen, is essentially unpredictable.”
“Was this an intelligence failure? My guess is probably not”.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 12:05
US cannot extend forces beyond Kabul, says Austin
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the US does not have the ability to collect Americans and allies, as well as refugees, from beyond the boundaries of the airport in Kabul.
“I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul,” Mr Austin said. “And where do you take that? How far do you extend into Kabul, and how long does it take to flow those forces in to be able to do that?”
Mr Austin, a retired four-star Army general who commanded forces in Afghanistan, was speaking at his first Pentagon news conference since the Taliban swept to power in Kabul on Sunday.
It comes amid reports that 10,000 – 15,000 Americans, as well as more than 50,000 Afghans, are awaiting airlifts from the country, after the Taliban retook Kabul with unexpected speed. The militant group, according to reports on the ground, was making it difficult for individuals to reach Kabul and the airport.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 11:55
Biden under fire for saying ‘chaos’ was unavoidable
Mr Biden came under attack on Wednesday night after he said said there was no way the US could have withdrawn from Afghanistan “without chaos ensuing”.
Among the voices was Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s former US ambassador the UN, who tweeted that it was “such a slap in the face to the thousands of Americans still in Afghanistan”.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 11:41
Mark Milley says there was no indication of Afghan government’s fall
Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Wednesday there was no intelligence to suggest Afghanistan’s army would deteriorate in just 11 days, amid criticism for failing to anticipate the US’s chaotic withdrawal from the country.
Mr Milley said he wanted to respond to news reports about the supposed intelligence suggesting otherwise, and that he had sworn in a testimony to Congress about “multiple scenarios” being indicated by US intelligence.
That timeline, he said, was anywhere between weeks and years. He added: “There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days”.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 11:21
US presence in Kabul depends on pace of evacuations
The US president, who said he was committed to evacuating Americans and allies, said the presence of US troops in the country was dependent on getting thousands of US citizens and allies out a day.
US officials said on Tuesday they had evacuated 3,200 people from Afghanistan, including all Embassy staff, since the fall of Kabul on Sunday, which Mr Biden described on Wednesday night as being “five days ago”.
That figure was apart from a group of US staff left working from Kabul’s international airport, as well as 6,000 US troops carrying out the evacuation.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 11:03
US will ‘stay’ until citizens and allies evacuated, Biden says
US President Joe Biden told ABC News on Wednesday night he was committed to doing “everything in our power” to get Americans and US allies in Afghanistan out before a 31 August deadline, after he was criticised for failing to anticipate the fall of Kabul to the Taliban at the weekend.
Mr Biden, who was asked what he would do if there were Americans remaining in Afghanistan after 31 August, affirmed that “if there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay till we get them all out.” There are believed to be 10,000 – 15,000 Americans alone in the country.
It follows the airlifting of Americans from the roof of the country’s embassy in Kabul on Sunday as the Taliban advanced on the Afghan capital. Many argued that the scenes were reminiscent of the fall of Saigon and Vietnam in 1975, when Americans were also forced to flee.
Mr Biden said in the ABC News interview that “chaos” was unavoidable. That has been disputed by intelligence officials and his opponents.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 10:51
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage of the Biden administration and the ongoing response to the United States’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Gino Spocchia19 August 2021 10:42
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