With Americans still in Afghanistan, Biden claims success

In a speech from the White House on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said the deal his predecessor made with the Taliban backed him into a corner. Had the United States not left Afghanistan when it did, Biden said, the militant group would have attacked American soldiers. Still, he called the operation an “extraordinary success.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called it “probably the biggest failure in American government on a military stage in my lifetime.”

What happens now? At least 100 Americans and many more U.S. supporters remain in Afghanistan. Biden said he asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to coordinate with international partners to hold the Taliban to their promise of safe passage for Americans and others who want to leave in the days ahead. In an interview last week, former President Donald Trump defended his policy on Afghanistan, saying he would have retaliated against the Taliban in March when it broke its agreement not to target any U.S. soldiers before the military’s upcoming withdrawal.

Dig deeper: Read Emily Belz’s report on an Afghan interpreter who served the U.S. military but could not get out of the country.