Help Evacuate Residents, Joe Biden Sends 5,000 Troops To Afghanistan

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he had approved sending additional military troops to Kabul to help evacuate their embassy staff from Afghanistan. Currently, more and more areas are controlled by the Taliban.

In a statement, Biden defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, arguing that Afghan forces must fight the Taliban armed group seeking to seize control of the country.

"Based on the recommendations of diplomats, military and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to ensure the orderly and safe withdrawal of the US and other allied personnel," Biden said.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the 5,000 soldiers Biden said, 4,000 had been previously announced. About another 1,000 were newly approved and were from the 82nd Air Division.

Biden said his administration had told top Taliban officials in Qatar that any action that could harm US personnel "will be responded to quickly and forcefully by the US military."

However, he also said an indefinite US military presence was not an option.

"One more year, or five more years, the presence of the US military will make no difference if the Afghan military can't or doesn't protect their own country. And America's endless presence in the midst of another country's civil conflict is unacceptable to me," said Joe Biden.

Additional troops will also evacuate a number of Afghans through a special visa program.

The State Department has contacted lawyers to ask for the names of Afghans in Kabul who have worked with US personnel and need to be evacuated, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The list of names could include journalists and human rights activists.

Biden has set August 31 as the official deadline for the US military mission in Afghanistan in his bid to free the US from the conflict that began after Al-Qaida attacked the US on September 11, 2011.

Biden's decision on Saturday comes amid pressure against him over a planned US troop withdrawal that has drawn some of the sharpest criticism during his six months in office.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's tweet on Twitter reflected some of the criticism: "If President Biden truly doesn't regret his decision to withdraw (troops), then he's disconnected from reality when it comes to Afghanistan."

The Taliban have taken over much of Afghanistan, capturing a major city in Afghanistan's north on Saturday, and are closing in on Kabul, where Western nations like Joe Biden as US President, are racing to evacuate their citizens from the capital.