Biden’s decision laid bare a cold realism in his view of American military power: American forces shouldn’t be used to promote the nation’s ideals abroad.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made up his mind about Afghanistan months — really years — ago.
How Biden is handling the weight of his decision to end the war is a product of his 40 years in public life, many of them spent studying the world. He sold voters on his experience and this is the first time he is offering decisions, not mere opinions in a Senate hearing — and he will be judged by the outcome, which is far from clear at this point. Americans are seeing a different side of Biden during this crisis, a sterner, sometimes testy man known much better for his empathy.
That confidence, which even some allies say sometimes borders on obstinance, has been a defining force in Biden’s political life and now his presidency. When he believes he is in the right, current and former aides say, there is little talking him out of it. It was on display again Friday as Biden insisted, despite a mounting chorus of condemnation from allies abroad, that the haphazard American withdrawal from Afghanistan was improving the country’s stature overseas.
Subsequent briefings at the White House, Pentagon and State Department raised as many questions as they answered, with officials being unable to say how many Americans remained in Afghanistan and how they, and their Afghan allies, would be lifted to safety. An image released of Biden sitting alone at a Camp David situation room was widely panned and later regretted within the White House, the officials said.
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