Biden on Concerns About Afghanistan Withdrawal Over 10 Years Ago: "Not Our Business"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] It has been revealed that U.S. President Joe Biden, who served as vice president in 2010, made a statement saying "It's not something we need to worry about" in response to concerns about civilian casualties during the withdrawal from Afghanistan at that time.

On the 17th (local time), the British daily The Independent cited an article from the U.S. current affairs media The Atlantic from last March, reporting that "then-Vice President Biden, during Barack Obama's presidency in 2010, made such remarks while advocating for the withdrawal from Afghanistan."

At that time, President Biden spoke with Richard Holbrooke, former special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan under President Obama, saying, "The U.S. must leave Afghanistan regardless of the impact on women or anyone else."

When former envoy Holbrooke questioned the U.S. obligation to guarantee Afghan girls' right to attend school, President Biden responded, "Fuck it." He added, "There is no need to worry about that," and said, "We did the same thing in Vietnam in 1973. Nixon and Kissinger got through that situation."

This appears to refer to Henry Kissinger, who was National Security Advisor at the White House during President Richard Nixon's administration in 1973, when the decision was made to withdraw U.S. troops from the Vietnam War. In 1975, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) fell to North Vietnam, leading to the communist takeover of Vietnam, and the U.S. narrowly withdrew from the area, marking a defeat.

The Independent criticized President Biden's past remarks, pointing out that "it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people left behind in South Vietnam, who could not withdraw with the U.S. military at the time, were forcibly detained in so-called 're-education' camps by the Communist Party."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.