President Joe Biden admitted that the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban retaking control happened more quickly than the US government had anticipated, leading to the ongoing crisis playing out in front of the world.
Biden refused to back away from his decision to end the American military's combat mission in the nation, where the US had fought the nation's longest war. Biden put the blame on Afghanistan's political leaders and that nation's armed forces for not standing up to the Taliban's lightning-quick offensive that put them back in control after two decades of war.
