Laser focus on Afghanistan, says Biden, warns Taliban not to hinder US forces

The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.

”We made clear to the Taliban that any attack, any attack on our forces or disruption of our operations at the airport will be met with a swift and forceful response," Biden told reporters at a White House news conference.

"We're also keeping a close watch on any potential terrorist threat at or around the airport, including from the ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan," he said.

"I've said all along, we're going to retain a laser focus on our counterterrorism mission, working in close coordination with our allies and our partners and all those who have an interest in ensuring stability in the region," Biden said.

He said Secretary of State Tony Blinken and other administration officials met NATO allies Friday morning on the way forward so that Afghanistan cannot be used as a base to launch terror attack on the US and its allies.

"For 20 years, Afghanistan has been a joint effort with our NATO allies. We went in together and we're leaving again. Now we're working together to bring our people and our Afghan partners to safety," he said.

Over the past few days, Biden said, he has spoken to his counterparts in Britain, Germany, and France.

"We all agreed that we should convene, and we will convene the G7 meeting next week, a group of the world's leading democracies so that together we can coordinate our mutual approach, our united approach on Afghanistan moving forward," he said.

”We are united with our closest partners to execute a mission at hand. We've also discussed the need to work with the international community to provide humanitarian assistance such as food aid and medical care for refugees who have crossed into neighboring countries to escape the Taliban, and to bring international pressure on the Taliban with respect to the treatment of Afghan people overall, but including Afghan, particularly, women and girls,” he added.

Responding to a question, Biden said so far he has not heard any ally questioning America's credibility.

"I've spoken with our NATO allies. We've spoken with NATO allies, the Secretary of State. Our national security advisor has been in contact with his counterparts throughout the world and our allies, as has the general--or, excuse me, I keep calling him a general, but my Secretary of Defense. The fact of the matter is I have not seen that,” he said.     

”Matter of fact, the exact opposite. I've got the exact opposite thing as we're acting with dispatch, we're acting, committing to what we said we would do. Look, let's put this thing in perspective here. What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al-Qaeda gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as well as getting Osama bin Laden, and we did,” Biden said.

”We went and did the mission. You've known my position for a long, long time. It's time to end this war. The estimates of the cost of this war over the last 20 years range from a minimum of USD1 trillion to a think tank at one of the universities saying USD2 trillion. That somewhere between USD150 million a day and USD300 million a day,” he said.

The threat from terrorism has metastasised, he said, adding there's a greater danger from the ISIS and the Al Qaeda and all these affiliates in other countries by far than there is from Afghanistan, Biden said.

"We are going to retain an over the horizon capability that, if they were to come back, to be able to take them out, surgically move. So this is where we should be. This is about America leading the world at all our allies have agreed with that,” he said.

The ongoing evacuation of US citizens and Afghan nationals who supported Americans over the last 20 years is one of the largest and most difficult airlifts in history, Biden said, adding that the US has already evacuated more than 18,000 people since July and approximately 13,000 since its military airlift began on August 14.

“This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history, and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the United States of America," Biden told reporters on Friday.

He said thousands more have been evacuated on private charter flights facilitated by the US government including American citizens and permanent residents as well as their families.

It also includes Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants and their families, the Afghans who have worked alongside the US, served alongside Americans, "one into combat with us, and provided invaluable assistance to the US such as translators and interpreters", he said.

The United States, he said, has secured the Kabul airport, enabling flights to resume, not just military flights, but civilian charters and from other countries and the NGOs taking out civilians and vulnerable Afghans. "We have almost 6,000 troops on the ground, including the 82nd Airborne, providing runway security, the Army 10th Mountain Division standing guard around the airport, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit assisting civilian departure," he said.

Biden asserted that the United States stands by its commitment that it has made to vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders and journalists.

Working in close coordination with the management of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the US has successfully evacuated all 204 of their employees in Afghanistan on US military aircraft earlier this week.

"We've established the flow of flights, and we've increased the number of people we're moving out of the country. We paused flights in Kabul a few hours this morning to make sure we can process the arriving evacuees at the transit points. But our commander in Kabul has already given the order for outbound flights to resume," he said.

Even with the pause, the US moved out 5,700 evacuees Thursday, he said, adding his administration is working to ascertain the exact number of Americans in Afghanistan.

A day earlier, among the many Americans evacuated, there were 169 Americans who got over the wall into the airport using military assets, he said.

"We're also facilitating flights for our allies and our partners and working in close operational coordination with NATO on this evacuation. For example, we provided overwatch for the French convoy bringing hundreds of their people from the French Embassy to the airport. These operations are going to continue over the coming days before we complete our drawdown," he said.      

"We're going to do everything, everything that we can to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners, and Afghans who might be targeted if -- because of their association of the United States. But let me be clear, any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” he said.