PRESIDENT Joe Biden is set to give another White House address today on the Afghanistan crisis.
President Biden will speak at the White House at noon on Tuesday to provide an update on the ongoing effort to evacuate Americans stranded in the country after the Taliban takeover.
The speech comes as the president faces calls to resign over his handling of the crisis.
Former President Donald Trump has also told Joe he has to go, and unleashed furious attacks on him at a rally in Alabama over the weekend.
"This will go down as one of the great military defeats of all time," Trump told the huge crowd. "This was not a withdrawal. It was a total surrender."
He continued: "The new president came into office and he dropped to his knees and he said [to the Taliban] 'come on in and take everything that we have'."
Read our Joe Biden speech live blog for the latest news and updates…
- Julia Fields
BORIS JOHNSON TO DISCUSS 'PROCESSING HUBS' FOR REFUGEES
Mr Johnson is also expected to meet with senior Cabinet ministers on Monday to discuss establishing "processing hubs" for refugees coming through Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Military commanders have identified August 25 as potentially the last day they can process refugees – including people who worked as British interpreters, the Daily Mail reported.
The last British evacuation flight may therefore have to leave as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.
Britain will ramp up mass evacuation plans and will aim to fly up to 6,000 people out of Afghanistan this week, The Times reported.
- Julia Fields
BORIS JOHNSON TO URGE BIDEN TO DELAY WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS
Boris Johnson will urge Joe Biden to delay the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan as thousands try to escape the Taliban.
Mr Johnson will use a G7 meeting on Tuesday to ask the US President to keep American troops at Kabul airport beyond his August 31 deadline.
Unless Mr Biden decides to keep troops in Afghanistan, then their UK counterparts will also withdraw from the airport within days, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The UK government is preparing for thousands of Afghans to attempt to leave their home country after the Taliban's takeover.
- Julia Fields
BIDEN AIDE SAYS HE 'NEVER SHIES AWAY' FROM QUESTIONS
It comes just days after the White House communications director was mocked for saying Biden "never shies away from questions," despite dodging reporters.
Kate Bedingfield made the comments during an MSNBC interview regarding the president's handling of the situation in Afghanistan.
Asked about whether or not Biden will take questions following this afternoon's press conference, Bedingfield said: "The president never shies away from taking questions.
"I'll let him make a decision if he's going to take questions this afternoon," she said, adding he is "always willing" to answer.
- Julia Fields
BIDEN 'TURNED HIS BACK' ON AFGHANISTAN QUESTIONS
On August 23, Biden once again ignored questions about the Afghanistan crisis after his aide claimed he "never shies away" from reporters.
The president was seen turning his back on a room full of journalists as he ended a Covid-19 press conference on August 23.
As Biden left, reporters could be heard yelling at him about the devastating crisis underway in the Middle East.
- Julia Fields
KAMALA HARRIS SLAMMED FOR 'LAUGHING' WHILE DISCUSSING AFGHANISTAN
The Vice President was slammed after video footage from a Friday night chat with reporters showed the 56-year-old politician nervously laughing when speaking about a serious matter.
Meghan McCain, who recently parted from The View, took to Twitter to denounce how Harris spoke about the troubling events that are taking place in Afghanistan.
Alongside the retweeted, 33-second video clip of Harris, McCain tweeted: "This may be some kind of real issue (like Joaquin phoenix in the joker) but she’s the Vice President and she’s hand [sic] ample time and resources to media train herself out of reacting to every SINGLE crisis situation like she’s walking onto a late night show.
"She comes off so craven."
- Julia Fields
BIDEN BRANDED AN 'IMBECILE'
And, former British PM Tony Blair branded Biden an "imbecile" over the decision to pull out from Afghanistan.
He said jihadist groups would be cheering at Washington's retreat.
Blair said: “We did it in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending ‘the forever wars’ as if our engagement in 2021 was remotely comparable to our commitment 20 or even ten years ago.”
- Julia Fields
CONCERN AMONG AMERICA'S ALLIES
Commentators fear that the president's handling of the crisis may have affected Washington's reputation on the global stage.
US politics expert Rob Singh told The Sun that there is now concern among America's allies who are reliant on security guarantees.
He said: "Is this administration really likely to come to Taiwan's defense if China does seek to coerce it?
“For countries such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, it's going to make them much more nervous about Washington.”
- Julia Fields
BIDEN WANTS TO AVOID 'BLACK-HAWK DOWN' DISASTER
The commander-in-chief wanted to avoid his own "Black Hawk Down" disaster – which saw dead American soldiers being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in 1993.
Six months after the killings, all US forces were withdrawn from Somalia.
The disaster was a turning point in US interventions in Africa, and in 2001 it was the subject of an Oscar-winning film directed by Ridley Scott.
- Julia Fields
RESCUE MISSION
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: “Our commanders have the authority they need to use their assets and their forces to help assist Americans who need to get to the airport on a case-by-case basis.”
He said that the US military had launched at least one additional rescue by helicopter but refused to provide any further details.
The rescue mission came after the Defense Department revealed that three US Army chinooks rescued 169 Americans from outside the airport last week.
- Julia Fields
US RESCUE TROOPS IN KABUL
Joe Biden finally allowed US soldiers to rescue stranded Americans outside Kabul airport as he feared another “Black Hawk Down” tragedy.
The president compared the crisis in Afghanistan with the 1993 attack on a conference call with military officials last week.
US Special Forces rescued 16 American citizens from outside Kabul airport on Monday, the Associated Press reports.
They were brought back to the Afghan capital for evacuation processing.
- Julia Fields
WARNING OF CONSEQUENCES
The calls for Biden's removal come after the Taliban warned of "consequences" if NATO troops are not out of the country by August 31.
Thousands of Afghans have flooded to the Kabul airport hoping to flee.
Some 20 people have been killed at the airport as a result of stampedes, shootings, and crushes, as international forces have tried to evacuate their citizens from the country, Reuters reports.
- Julia Fields
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT
Controversial QAnon Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene went a step further and said that Biden needs to be impeached.
"The Taliban would have NEVER said no to President Trump, but they just told Biden no to extending the August 31st deadline to pull troops," she tweeted on Monday.
"Biden abandoned Americans and dishonored our military, veterans, and allies. Biden has disgraced America! Biden must be impeached!"
- Julia Fields
CALLS FOR RESIGNATION
However, some are using the situation currently unfolding in Afghanistan as a reason to call for Biden's resignation.
Florida Rep Byron Donalds issued a statement calling for Biden to resign over his "haphazard decision to withdraw from Afghanistan."
"President Joseph R Biden has abdicated his responsibility and duties entrusted to him as President of the United States," the statement says.
"This blatant abdication of his office is grounds for President Biden to resign immediately.
"It has become clear that President Biden has lost complete and total confidence of the American people through his haphazard decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
"This botched withdrawal is currently threatening the lives of our servicemen and women, the stability in the region, and our integrity on the global stage."
The statement goes on to say that Biden "failed on all fronts" as Commander-in-Chief.
- Julia Fields
BIDEN JOKES HE MAY NEED WORK AFTER CALLS TO RESIGN
Biden made the crack while hosting WNBA champs the Seattle Storm at the White House on Monday.
During the visit, Biden called the team a "force for change" while congratulating them on their WNBA title last season.
During the remarks, he added, "I may need work after this. I'd be a good ball boy I think."
The quip was met with laughter from the crowd.
Source: Read Full Article