Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal in final UN speech

President Joe Biden directly addressed the United States’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan on Tuesday in a speech before the United Nations that defended his foreign policy legacy across four years in office.

“When I came to office as president, Afghanistan had replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war,” Biden said in New York City. “I was determined to end it, and I did. It was a hard decision, but the right decision. Four American presidents had faced that decision, but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth.”