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Biden breaks silence, says leaving Afghanistan was the right decision
US President Joe Biden said on Monday night that the developments of the past week have reinforced that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan was the right decision.
He said Washington’s mission in Afghanistan “was never supposed to have been nation building” nor was it aimed at creating a unified, centralized democracy.
Addressing a press conference at the White House, Biden said: “Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight.”
He said “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”
“We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong — incredibly well equipped — a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies.
“We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force.
“We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future,” Biden said.
Biden said when he hosted former president Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the high council for national reconciliation, in June, he had a frank discussion with them about cleaning up the corruption in government and the about Afghan leaders uniting politically.
“We talked about how Afghanistan should prepare to fight their civil wars after the U.S. military departed,” he said.
“They failed to do any of that,” he added.
“I also urged them to engage in diplomacy, to seek a political settlement with the Taliban. This advice was flatly refused. Mr. Ghani insisted the Afghan forces would fight, but obviously he was wrong,” Biden said.
He went on to say that he is clear on his decision. “I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past — the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the national interest of the United States, of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country, of attempting to remake a country through the endless military deployments of U.S. forces.
“Those are the mistakes we cannot continue to repeat, because we have significant vital interests in the world that we cannot afford to ignore.”
He said the US will continue to support the Afghan people. “We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence, and our humanitarian aid.
“We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability.
“We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the Afghan people — of women and girls — just as we speak out all over the world,” he said.
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Islamic Emirate’s army now self-sufficient, says chief of army staff
Mohammad Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, says that over the past four years, the army forces of the Islamic Emirate have shown no hesitation in defending and protecting Afghanistan, and that today the country’s army is standing on its own feet.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Fitrat made these remarks at a meeting with media representatives, political analysts, and a number of government officials aimed at coordination and strengthening cooperation. He added: “Nations that cannot stand on their own feet and rely on others, even if they grow, will not be capable of achieving real progress.”
Fitrat also expressed appreciation for the role of the media in ensuring security and in supporting the country’s defense forces, stating: “We and you, as citizens of this land, must put our hands together and build the country together, take pride in our forces, and strive with all our strength for the country’s development. We have created an army that defends honor, territorial integrity, and the borders of the country, and serves as the guardian of our freedom.”
He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is working to establish an army equipped with modern weapons so that it can defend the country’s territory under all circumstances.
He stated that the country’s army has proven to the people that anyone who looks at this land with ill intent will face a firm and courageous response, and that it has also been made clear to neighboring countries that any aggression against Afghanistan will be met with a response several times stronger.
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Afghan health minister attends second WHO summit in India
Noor Jalal Jalali, the Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate, participated in the second World Health Organization meeting on traditional medicine during his official visit to India.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health said that the meeting was held in India with the participation of representatives from around 100 countries, health ministers from 23 countries, professional experts from various nations, and officials from different departments of the World Health Organization.
During the meeting, discussions were held on the standardization of traditional medicine, training of individuals active in this field, recognition of traditional medicine as an established reality, and the sharing of countries’ experiences in this area.
The ministry stated that the purpose of participating in the conference was to standardize traditional medicine in Afghanistan, adding that for several decades this sector has been practiced in a non-standard manner and without a defined curriculum or clear principles.
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Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan boost trade and digital finance ties
Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, Abdul Salam Hanafi, has met with a high-level Kyrgyz delegation led by Minister of Economy and Commerce Bakhyt Sydykov to discuss expanding bilateral trade and strengthening cooperation in digital financial services.
During the meeting, Hanafi reaffirmed Afghanistan’s readiness to deepen ties with Kyrgyzstan, stressing the importance of developing electronic administration systems and modern banking channels to facilitate trade and financial transactions between the two countries.
Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives. He also pointed to potential cooperation in areas such as the printing of securities and the development of electronic payment systems.
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