Joe Biden Says Afghans Who Have Helped US in War Efforts Will be 'Welcomed in New Home'

United States President Joe Biden, who has been facing criticism over his decision of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban blitz said on Monday that Afghans who had helped the US in their war effort would be welcomed to their ‘new home’.

“Once screened and cleared, we will welcome Afghans who helped us in the war effort to their new home in the United States of America. Because that’s who we are. That’s what America is,” said Biden in a tweet.

Biden, who may feel the impact of his Afghanistan policy back home, when asked about plummeting poll numbers, flashed his megawatt smile and laughed. The Afghanistan exit may look like a disaster but the US president exudes confidence that he will be proved right in the end.

“I think when this is over, the American people will have a clear understanding of what I did,” he told reporters this weekend. “That’s the job. My job is to make judgments. My job is to make judgments no one else can or will make.”

When the Taliban completed their surge across Afghanistan by taking over Kabul in the middle of August, the Biden administration had the appearance of a deer in the headlights.

In Kabul, there was chaos as panicked Afghans mobbed the airport, leading to horrific scenes of people trying to hold on to airplanes and falling to their deaths. Back home, Biden was initially invisible, prompting a torrent of criticism from Republicans and some of his own allies. Now, though, the White House is trying to wrest back control of the narrative.

Meanwhile, the US President also urged people to get vaccinated after the Pfizer received full approval by the FDA. “Let me say this loud and clear: If you are one of the millions of Americans who have said that you will get the shot when it had full FDA approval — that has now happened. The moment you have been waiting for is here — and the time to get vaccinated is today,” he said in a tweet.

16,000 Evacuated Over 24 Hours: Pentagon

Around 16,000 people were evacuated over the past 24 hours from Afghanistan through the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said Monday, as international airlift operations sped up ahead of an August 31 deadline.

Spokesman John Kirby said that took the number of people reolcated from Afghanistan since July to 42,000, and 37,000 since the intense airlift operations started on August 14 as the Taliban moved to take Kabul.

With inputs from AFP.

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