US President Joe Biden (far left), Secretary of State Tony Blincoln (far right), National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (second from left), and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (third from left)) in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington on the 22nd. The security team is discussing the situation in Afghanistan. Washington = Associated Press
On the 22nd (local time), a week after the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden held a third press conference on Afghanistan. The results of the withdrawal of 11,000 people over the weekend and the principle of transport and settlement of Afghan cooperative residents were also disclosed. “Any American who wants to go home will go home,” he said.
However, the threat of terrorism by IS-K, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State (IS), an Islamic extremist militant group, remains, and it is unclear whether cooperation with the Taliban will continue. Natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes, and the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), are also piled up in the United States. Biden’s approval rating is expected to continue to decline for some time to come.
President Biden, who spent the weekend at the White House with a meeting to review the situation in Afghanistan, held a press conference in the afternoon and explained the status of the Afghan manpower withdrawal. “In all, we rescued 11,000 people from Kabul in less than 36 hours,” he said.
The White House also announced that 5,100 people had fled Afghanistan in half a day, including eight U.S. Air Force transports and 39 Allied aircraft. It was also explained that the evacuation of a total of 3,300 people was completed after 14 days.
President Biden also explained the process of settlement of Afghan partners in the United States. It is said that planes taking off from Kabul do not go directly to the US, but land at US bases and transit centers around the world, go through background checks, and then fly to the US or other countries, the final destination. He said, “We are working with more than 24 countries across four continents. It also succeeded in facilitating the evacuation operation by increasing the range of the safe zone around Kabul Airport.
Of course, President Biden was wary of the possibility of a terrorist attack near Kabul Airport. “I know that terrorists may use this situation to target innocent Afghan people or Americans,” he said, referring to the threat of the terrorist organization IS-K.
Regarding the Taliban, to the question, ‘Have you opened up the possibility of sanctions in case of wrongdoing?’, he answered “yes”. At the same time, President Biden opened the way for an eventual compromise, saying, “The Taliban are seeking legitimacy to decide whether other countries will recognize them or not, and we will see if this is serious or not.”
An Afghan woman hugs a U.S. soldier who helped her after reuniting with her family at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital Kabul on the 20th. Kabul = AP News
However, criticism in the United States over the confusion of Afghanistan withdrawal is not going away. According to a survey conducted on the 18th and 20th by CBS and YouGov, an opinion polling agency, the approval rate for President Biden was 50%. This is a result of a decrease compared to surveys such as March (62%) and July (58%). President Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan received 63 percent of the vote, but only 47 percent of the vote for the evacuation operation.
In addition, floods in Tennessee, U.S., and hurricanes in New York, etc. are causing casualties, and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country recorded 157,450 as of the 20th as of the 20th, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If the evacuation operation from Afghanistan does not succeed, it is difficult for President Biden to avoid difficulties in managing state affairs for the time being.
Washington = Jeong-won Jeong correspondent ornot@hankookilbo.com
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