Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal, recommits to evacuate remaining Americans

President Joe Biden, speaking to nation Tuesday, gave his fiercest defense yet of his self-imposed deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan -- a day after the last troops left the country, bringing America's longest war to a close -- but only after a chaotic and deadly exit.

"Let me be clear, leaving August the 31st, is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save American lives," a defiant Biden said, responding to harsh criticism both of his decision to leave and how it was handled.

After praising what he called the "extraordinary success" U.S. troops had in conducting the rushed and dangerous evacuation, he bluntly blamed both the Afghan army and the Afghan government for collapsing so quickly and the Trump administration for making a deal with the Taliban, that he said he inherited, that would have withdrawn all ground troops by May 1.

"So, we were left with a simple decision. Either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan or say we weren't leaving and commit to another tens of thousands more troops going back to war," he claimed. "That was the choice, the real choice. Between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war. And I was not extending a forever exit."

His voice rising in anger at times, Biden continued, "It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refuse to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should've ended long ago."

The president's prepared remarks from the State Dining Room of the White House came 24 hours after the last military plane cleared airspace above Afghanistan but without more than 100 Americans on board who still wanted to get out of the country, something Republicans and other critics have blasted as "leaving Americans behind."