Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal: 'This was the logical, rational, and right decision to make'

Addressing the nation on Sunday amidst the ongoing effort to evacuate American citizens and US allies from the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Biden was questioned once again on whether he trusts the Taliban.

"On the question of the Taliban though, do you trust them now?" a reporter asked Biden at the press briefing over the weekend. "I don't trust anybody including you. I love ya, but you know there’s not a lot of people I trust," said Biden.

"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 … for hundreds of years, and if it does, it's going to need everything from additional help in terms of economic assistance, trade, and a whole range of things," said Biden.

"The Taliban has said, we'll see whether they mean it or not, they're seeking legitimacy, they're seeking legitimacy to determine whether or not they will be recognized by other countries," Biden continued. "They have told other countries as well as us, they don't want us to move our diplomatic presence completely."

Biden added that this is "all just talk now."

In the public remarks to the American people, Biden once again defended the decision to withdraw, and continued to emphasize a "wait and see" approach with the Taliban, which he says has "largely complied" with its obligations.

"So far, the Taliban has not taken action against US forces. So far, they have by and large followed through on what they said in terms of allowing Americans to pass through and the like," said Biden. "And I'm sure they don't control all of their forces. It's a ragtag force. And so we'll see. We'll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true."

The comment comes in contradiction to Biden's statement on Friday, where he said: "To the best of our knowledge, the Taliban checkpoints, they are letting through people showing American passports."

That has proven to not be the case for some Americans looking to flee Afghanistan. One woman spoke with Fox News on Saturday, who said that she was whipped at a Taliban checkpoint despite showing a US passport.

Biden continued by asking when should American leave Afghanistan, if not now?

"At the end of the day, if we didn't leave Afghanistan now, when do we leave? Another 10 years? Another five years? Another year? I'm not about to send your son or your daughter to fight in Afghanistan," said Biden.

"I don't see where that is in our overwhelming interest and to talk about how our interests are going to be impacted," Biden continued. "Let me tell you, you're sitting in Beijing and you're sitting in the Moscow, are you happy we left? They love nothing better for us to continue to be bogged down there, totally occupied with what's going on."

Defending the withdrawal, Biden said: "This was the logical, rational and right decision to make." During his address, Biden said that they were "working hard and as fast as we can" to get people evacuated. Around 28,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 14 on both military and civilian charters.

Biden stressed that an evacuation of this size, no matter when it would have occurred, is going to be "hard and painful."

"My heart aches for those people you see," said Biden.

Biden also assured that people evacuating from Kabul are not flying directly to their final destinations, but that they are being brought to processing stations in "third countries," providing spaces for SIV applicants and vulnerable Afghan people to finish paperwork, as well as provide background screenings of evacuees.

From these processing centers, Biden said that commercial air flights, activated under the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, would be taking the evacuees to their final destinations. Only three or four aircraft from airlines would be used, and it would be on a volunteer basis from the airline companies.