Joe Biden keeps defending his Afghanistan decision – but his actions could come back to bite him

In the latest defence of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Joe Biden said that there was no way for the US to pull out – and by extension everyone else – “without chaos ensuing”.

Well that is good to know, eh? That we were always headed towards this humanitarian crisis. “I don’t think it was a failure,” Biden told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News when asked about the troop withdrawal, but it is difficult to frame it as anything else.

Every time Biden has spoken on the issue of Afghanistan in recent days it seems to have only intensified questions around the issues of planning and how we ended up in this situation.

Biden’s previously confident words over the risks related to the withdrawal have been overtaken by the events of the last few days and the president is very close to sounding like his predecessor, Donald Trump. Not in general, but in a willingness to bury his head in the sand over an issue.

The pressure is certainly building on Biden; the days when he was cut some slack just for not being Trump are long gone. Not to say that the situation in Afghanistan is easy or simple – but defiance over a course of action can quickly turn sour. For another example on this side of the Atlantic, we only need to observe the increasing pressure over Dominic Raab’s position.

Helping the people of Afghanistan is of course the top priority and both the US and UK should be doing their utmost in that regard. Political issues can wait for now. But Biden should be careful that his way of dealing with the Afghanistan situation does not come back to bite him – the west has been involved with the nation for a long time and nobody should be under any illusions that the fallout will last a long time.

Yours,

Chris Stevenson

Voices editor