President Biden delivered his final address from the State Department on Monday, discussing the state of American foreign policy and national security as his term nears its end in one week, with President-elect Trump poised to assume office again.
While Biden did not explicitly name his successor, he referenced both the outgoing and incoming Trump administrations, emphasizing that he is leaving behind a “strong hand to play.”
During his speech, Biden also mentioned what he considers several key nations of significant geopolitical importance to U.S. security. He also recalled his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan just a few months after taking office—a decision that has been among the most heavily criticized of his presidency.
The withdrawal led to a tragic ISIS-K attack at Abbey Gate during the evacuation, resulting in the deaths of 11 Marines, two U.S. Army soldiers and a Navy Corpsman on Aug. 26, 2021, along with around 170 Afghan civilians. “[I am] the first president in decades who’s not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor,” Biden told State Dept. staff.
The president referenced the 2011 assassination of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden during the Obama administration, noting that he concluded large numbers of American forces were no longer necessary when he assumed office.
Before Trump lost to Biden, his administration had opened negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which resulted in nearly a year passing without any U.S. military casualties. Trump had campaigned on leaving the country but in a more orderly fashion, according to former officials involved with the planning.
“So when I took office, I had a choice – only I saw no reason to keep thousands of servicemen in Afghanistan,” he added. “In my view, it was time to end the war and bring our troops home, and we did.”
The president attempted to counter the criticism he received of the withdrawal and said, “Remember, critics said if we ended the war, it would damage our alliances and create threats to our homeland from foreign-directed terrorism out of a safe haven in Afghanistan.
“Neither has occurred,” Biden added. “Our alliances have stayed strong, we’ve used our over-the-horizon capabilities of striking Afghanistan and elsewhere when we had to.
“And by ending the war, we’ve been able to focus our energy and resources on our urgent challenges,” the president said, making reference to threats the U.S. continues to face from adversaries like Russia and China, though the former is currently bogged down with a grinding war in Ukraine.
WATCH:
Some of the harshest and most enduring criticism Biden has received throughout his controversial presidency comes from his deadly Afghan withdrawal.
Parents who lost sons and daughters during the withdrawal have regularly ripped Biden on subsequent anniversaries of the fateful day.
Mark Schmitz, whose son, Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, was killed in the Kabul airport attack, blamed Biden during a 2023 interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Story” with Martha MacCallum after the current president attempted to lay the blame at the feet of Trump.
“The advisers were telling Biden not to do what he was going to do. He flat-out ignored it, simply for, I believe, that September 11 original date that he wanted to have as the deadline and moved it up to the 31st,” Schmitz said. “And then turns around and has the audacity to blame Trump for everything.”
“There were so many incredible mistakes made during this entire situation, starting with Bagram. The fact that I sat there and listened to Biden boast about this being a success, the only [thing] he said right there was the bravery of our men and women that were over there, they were tasked with something completely impossible,” he told MacCallum.
“It’s just — it’s disgusting. There’s been absolutely no one who’s taken responsibility for any of the bad decisions that were made. And that starts at the very top and goes all the way down the list,” he added.
“The administration failed us. He should resign,” Paula Knauss Selph, the mother of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Christian Knauss who was killed in the attack, according to NewsNation.
“Our leaders, including the Secretary of Defense and our Commander in Chief, called this evacuation a success as if there should be a celebration,” said Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was also killed in the attack.
“It is like a knife in the heart for our families,” she said.
“I would say he needs to resign,” said Carol Briseno, the mother of Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, who was killed, The Daily Caller reported.
