Visibly upset Biden ducks queries about Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): US President Joe Biden was visibly upset on Friday when he parried three questions in a row about the American troop pullout from Afghanistan.

While parrying a third query regarding the withdrawal amid escalating violence, Biden said on Friday: “I want to talk about happy things.”

CNN quoted the US president — palpably irritated — as refusing to answer any more questions about Afghanistan after elaborating on his drawdown plans,

Earlier, Biden spoke about his hopes for the embattled Afghan government and his view of US air support for the local security forces.

“I’m concerned that you guys are asking me questions that I’ll answer next week. This is a holiday weekend. I’m going to celebrate it. There are great things happening,” he added.

A growing Afghan economy, progress against Covid and the US troops’ homecoming after 20 years of war were reasons to celebrate, he argued.

While promising to answer such questions at a later date, Biden insisted the troop exit was not going faster than planned.

Asked about the Afghan government’s ability to defeat Taliban offensives, he replied: “I think they have the capacity to sustain the government.”

He said his administration had worked out an over-the-horizon capacity to help the Afghan government if air support was required to keep the Taliban from finding their way into Kabul.

PAN Monitor/mud

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