Washington invested billions of dollars over four US administrations in Afghan government forces, giving them advantages over the Taliban, but they were unable to defend the country in the face of the militants' advance, Blinken told CNN.
The United States' original mission in Afghanistan, launched to oust al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after the Sep 11, 2001, attacks, had been fulfilled, Blinken said, saying Washington had prevented further attacks by militants harboured by the Taliban.
But Biden has faced rising domestic criticism after sticking to the plan to withdraw, which was agreed under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. On Saturday, Biden defended his decision, saying an "endless American presence in the middle of another country's civil conflict was not acceptable to me".
Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said a Taliban takeover would revive the threat to the United States.
"We are going to go back to a pre-9/11 state. A breeding ground for terrorism," he told CNN on Sunday.
Biden met with his national security team on Sunday by secure videoconference from the presidential retreat at Camp David to hear updates on evacuations and the security situation, a White House official said.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat like Biden, said at a news conference that the safety of US personnel and of Afghans who supported the Americans should be Washington's top concern.
"Job number one is for us to bring back, first, all American personnel ... But second, all of the brave Afghans who helped our military, they have to be provided an exit to come to America," Schumer said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9wZW50YWdvbi1hdXRob3Jpc2VzLW1vcmUtdHJvb3BzLWthYnVsLXVzLWVtYmFzc3ktc2F5cy1haXJwb3J0LXNlY3VyaXR5LW5vdC1zdGFibGUtMjExNDM5MdIBAA?oc=5
2021-08-15 14:17:40Z
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