Biden: Afghan chaos ‘gut-wrenching’ but stands by withdrawal

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, ROBERT BURNS and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling the violent chaos at Kabul’s airport “gut-wrenching,” but he’s standing by America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden spoke from the White House on Monday in his first in-person remarks since the Taliban over the weekend rolled over an Afghan military and government that American forces had spent two decades building. Despite it all, Biden said he stands squarely behind his decision to end the United States’ longest war. He faulted leaders of the Afghan government and military for its swift collapse, saying he had warned President Ashraf Ghani to prepare to fight a civil war with the Taliban after American troops left.