Biden again defends withdrawal from Afghanistan, says "logical, rational and right decision"

Washington:US President Joe Biden while addressing reporters at the White House on Sunday afternoon said that extending the deployment of troops for the evacuation mission in Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline has been under discussion.

When asked about the deadline he reacted that "discussions going on among us and the military about extending, our hope is we will not have to extend,"

"But there are going to be discussions, I suspect, on how far along we are in the process." he added. Biden also staunchly defended his move to withdraw American troops from the war-torn country, saying history will record this as a "logical, rational and right decision".

"I think that history is going to record this was the logical, rational and right decision to make," he told reporters in an interaction at the White House on Sunday.

Biden in July ordered the US military to end its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month. The Biden administration has come under criticism, especially the Opposition Republican Party, for the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan as the Taliban captured power, resulting in chaos and deaths.

Indian-American politician and former US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said earlier in the day: "They (the US administration) have surrendered the American people and actually withdrew our troops before they withdrew the American people.

"They have abandoned our Afghan allies who kept people like my husband safe while they were overseas deploying. So, no, there was no negotiating. This was a complete and total surrender and an embarrassing failure, she said.

Biden also said that the Taliban has to make a fundamental decision.

"Is the Taliban going to attempt to be able to unite and provide for the well being of the people of Afghanistan, which no one group has ever done?"

"And if it does, it's going to need everything from additional help, in terms of economic assistance, trades and a whole range of things," he said.

"The Taliban has said- we will see whether they mean it or not - they're seeking legitimacy... to determine whether or not they will be recognised by other countries. They have told other countries as well as us that they don't want us to move our diplomatic presence completely. All of this is all just talk now,� Biden said.

He said that so far, the Taliban has not taken any action against US forces, by and large following through what they said in terms of allowing Americans to pass through.

"I'm sure they don't control all of their forces. It's a ragtag force. And so, we'll see... whether or not what they say turns out to be true," he said.

The President also noted the security environment is changing rapidly on the ground.

"We know that terrorists may seek to exploit the situation and target innocent Afghans or American troops," he said, pointing to potential terrorist threats from ISIS-K, the local affiliate of the Islamic State.

Earlier in the day, the Pentagon ordered commercial airlines to support the evacuation missions.