International
Biden says Afghanistan effort was never meant to be ‘nation-building’
By Jenny Goldsberry
After a week of reports that the Taliban is overtaking Afghanistan after U.S. troops evacuated, President Biden stands by the withdrawal, saying the effort was never meant to be “nation-building.”
Biden addressed the nation about the Taliban overtaking Afghanistan Monday. Most Americans, 69.3% disapprove of his handling of Afghanistan military operations according to this weekend’s poll from the Trafalgar Group.
“My national security team and I have been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Afghanistan,” Biden said, calling it a “rapid collapse.” But, he doubled down saying the mission from the beginning was “never supposed to be nation-building,” or “unifying.” Instead, he said it was about “preventing another terrorist attack on American homeland.”
“There was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces,” Biden said. “The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we anticipated.”
Yet to Biden, the developments of the past week confirmed to him that it was the right decision to withdraw. “Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” he said. Despite training and equipping the force, the 300,000 strong military collapsed. According to him, it was a force “larger in size than many of our NATO allies.” Then, the U.S. provided Afghanistan with an air force, something the Taliban does not have. Still the U.S. will continue to provide close air support.
“We could not provide them a will to fight for that future,” Biden said. “It is wrong to order military troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own forces would not.” In the meanwhile, Biden claimed our troops were “bearing the brunt of the fighting for them.”
Now, there are 6,000 soldiers assisting withdrawal and escape for Americans and at-risk Afghans. They have taken over air traffic control, transferring diplomats to the airport as well.
Biden did not take questions following the press conference.
You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.
Israel
Israel Defense Forces say coalition successfully intercepted over 99 percent of Iranian drones, missiles
The U.S., U.K, France, and Jordan came together with Israel to intercept the onslaught of Iranian drones targeting Israel, according to multiple reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded defiantly, saying his country is “strong” and prepared to defend itself from any threat.
“Our defense systems are deployed, and we are prepared for any scenario, both in defense and offense. The State of Israel is strong, the IDF is strong, the public is strong,” Netanyahu said.
“We appreciate the US for standing by Israel’s side as well as the support of the UK, France and many other countries,” he continued.
“I established a clear principle — whoever hurts us, we will hurt them. We will defend ourselves from any threat and we will do so calmly and with determination.”
In conjunction with the attack, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei launched a tirade against Israel on Saturday and blamed the Jewish state for the recent attack on an Iranian compound in Damascus, Syria.
“The malicious regime has made a wrong move in this case. It should be punished and it will be punished,” he said of Israel.
National Review reports:
Iran typically targets Israel through its network of well-resourced regional proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel continues to fights its war against Hamas sparked by the terrorist group’s mass civilian slaughter and rape on October 7.
Hamas rejected another temporary cease-fire proposal after negotiations began in Cairo, Egypt last weekend between U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian officials. The cease-fire proposal would have seen Israel exchange hundreds of Gazan prisoners for dozens of the hostages held in captivity by Hamas.
As for injuries, a seven-year-old girl suffered severe injuries from shrapnel that fell directly onto her home. She was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery for a head wound. An estimated 31 people in total were treated for stress and minor injuries.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Hagari: More than 200 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles were fired from Iran. Most of the threats were intercepted outside Israeli airspace. A very small number of missiles hit Israeli territory with minor damages to a military base in…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 14, 2024
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