In his address to the Nation Monday afternoon, President Biden stated that he stands ‘squarely behind my decision to end the American military’s combat mission’ in Afghanistan but that no one expected the country to fall so quickly to the Taliban.

“I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces,” Biden said during a speech from the East Room of the White House Monday afternoon. “That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risks. We planned for every contingency. But I always promised the American people I would be straight with you. The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”