Biden "Extension of Withdrawal Deadline if Necessary"... Considering Additional Troops Deployment and Use of Civilian Aircraft

U.S. President Joe Biden is holding a press conference on the situation in Afghanistan on the holiday, the 22nd.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Joe Biden expressed concern that there is still a long way to go for the evacuation of Afghan civilians and suggested that the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, scheduled for August 31, could be postponed. The U.S. is also considering additional troop deployments.

On the 22nd (local time), despite it being a holiday, President Biden held a press conference at the White House and said, "If necessary for the evacuation of Americans and allied nationals in Afghanistan, we will consider extending the withdrawal deadline."

President Biden acknowledged that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is not an easy situation. He forecasted, "There is still a long way to go, and many things can still go wrong." He said, "The evacuation from Afghanistan will be difficult and painful. There is no way to evacuate many people without pain."

President Biden also emphasized again that "Since the 14th, 28,000 people have been evacuated, and any American who wants to return home will be able to do so."

While maintaining hope that civilian evacuations could be completed by the 31st, President Biden also acknowledged that it is not easy to evacuate many people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Regarding President Biden's remarks that day, the congressional media outlet The Hill evaluated that "President Biden made a clearer stance on extending the withdrawal deadline."

As a large crowd gathered at Kabul airport, the U.S. Department of Defense ordered the deployment of 18 civilian aircraft from airlines such as American Airlines and Delta Airlines, in addition to 150 military aircraft. This is the third time the U.S. has deployed civilian planes since the Gulf War and the Iraq War. These aircraft are being used to transport refugees to U.S. military bases in Europe and the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared on ABC and stated that they will continue to seek other solutions creatively to bring refugees to the airport.

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, hinted at the possibility of additional troop deployments in an interview with NBC. He said, "Currently, we believe we have sufficient troops on the ground, but President Joe Biden asks the military command daily whether additional troops are needed." He added, "So far, the answer has been 'no,' but he will ask again today."

The U.S. has temporarily redeployed 6,000 troops to Kabul airport ahead of the withdrawal deadline at the end of this month, but as Afghans attempting to escape flock to Kabul airport, confusion is increasing and the possibility of terrorism is emerging, raising the need for additional troop deployments.

The political media outlet The Hill reported, "Sullivan's remarks came one week after the Taliban took control of Kabul," and "They did not rule out the possibility of additional troop deployments to secure the airport."

President Biden's Approval Ratings Continue to Decline Amid Afghanistan Crisis

Since the Afghanistan crisis, President Biden's approval ratings have been continuously declining.

According to an NBC poll released that day, President Biden's approval rating fell below 50% for the first time, standing at 49%. His approval rating was only 1 percentage point higher than the disapproval rating.

In a CBS poll released the same day, the approval and disapproval ratings for President Biden were both at 50%.

The political media outlet Politico analyzed that the two-week consecutive decline in President Biden's approval ratings is largely due to the Afghanistan crisis. His approval rating dropped by 8 percentage points in CBC and 4 percentage points in NBC polls.

Although the recent situation is unfavorable, President Biden's approval rating still surpasses that of former President Donald Trump. Politico compared that Trump never once achieved an approval rating above 48%.

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