President Joe Biden has made a series of assertions about US policy in Afghanistan and the reasons behind his decision to withdraw forces from the country.

BBC News has fact-checked some of his claims, comparing them with his earlier statements on Afghanistan and the situation on the ground.'

'We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong'

This figure is contested and considered by many experts to be a substantial overestimate.

The US watchdog set up to monitor the situation in Afghanistan provides the basis for the president's figure, but it is misleading to use it out of context.

The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar) provides an overall figure for Afghan security forces in April 2021 of 300,699.

However, this figure combines both army/air force personnel (182,071) and the police force (118,628) - who are not deployed as part of the country's military.

The Sigar report also notes that of these figures also include "ghost" personnel. These would be non-existent or previously registered names, no longer active members of either the military or the police.

This, Sigar says, meant that "more than $300 million a year was spent paying salaries to non-existent personnel in the Afghan security forces."

A recent investigation by BBC Newsnight has uncovered evidence suggesting that the size of the army could be low as 50,000 - much lower even than these SIGAR estimates.

'Are we gonna continue to lose thousands of Americans to injury and death to try to unite that country?'

From a peak at the height of the conflict a decade ago, the number of US casualties in Afghanistan has fallen in recent years.

Since 2015, there have been[b] 94 US deaths of military personnel[/b] in Afghanistan, according to the US Department of Defense.

The last American combat deaths in Afghanistan were in February 2020.

Overall, since US forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, a total of 1,897 US military personnel were killed in action in Afghanistan and another 415 died from non-hostile causes, according to the US official monitoring body, Sigar.

More than 20,000 have been wounded.

'Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building'

In his television address on Monday evening, President Biden stressed the purpose behind the US intervention in Afghanistan had "always been preventing a terrorist attack on American homeland" and "never supposed to be creating a unified centralised democracy".

This clearly contradicts his previous positions on the US objective in Afghanistan.

At the outset of the conflict in 2001 when Mr Biden was a US senator, he outlined the long-term purpose of the American military intervention, saying: "Our hope is that we will see a relatively stable government in Afghanistan, one that… provides the foundation for future reconstruction of that country."

And again, in 2003 - in another quote, tracked down by the Politico website - he said the "alternative to nation building is chaos, a chaos that churns out bloodthirsty warlords, drug traffickers and terrorists".

'Afghanistan's political leaders gave up and fled the country'

President Ashraf Ghani left the country with his aides, ahead of the Taliban advance into Kabul, despite having vowed several times to remain.

But other political leaders have remained and made public statements about doing so.

Former President Hamid Karzai, who served from 2001 to 2014, appeared in a video with his daughters, in which he said he was in Kabul and urged government forces and the Taliban to protect civilians.

Mr Karzai said all political leaders in the country would work to solve the issues peacefully and requested people to be patient.

The first Vice-President of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, is also currently in the country, along with other leaders such as Ahmad Massoud, son of anti-Soviet military leader and politician Ahmad Shah Massoud.

And BBC News's Yalda Hakim has revealed the political leaders currently present in Afghanistan are forming an anti-Taliban coalition.

'The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight'

It's true that the collapse of Afghan forces in the final few weeks of the conflict was dramatic.

However, this has to be seen in the context of the rapid, largely uncoordinated departure of international forces from the country.

When President Biden announced the withdrawal of US troops in April, eight thousand allied forces and eighteen thousand contractors who provided logistical support to the Afghan forces also left.

Afghan forces had relied heavily on these contractors and trainers over the past 20 years.

It's also worth noting that the Afghan army may have been well funded and equipped on paper, but the reality was different, often blamed on corruption and low morale.

Almost 70,000 Afghan police and military personnel have been killed fighting the Taliban in the last 20 years.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/58243158

Like dullard Buhari like sleepy Joe. What a failed combo. Nigerians and Americans never had it this bad under this two world renowned monumental failures

The US is guilty...

A call for mercy .DNT be stone-hearted/ignore her cry for help.Nobody know tomorrow.May we not be plagued by diseases/fall sick.A fellow Nairalander oluolad86 needs medical financial assistance.. Nothing is too small.She'll appreciate any amount.May u never run dry

US was never welcome by majority of Afghans.
They should airlift their military personnel and leave their country for Dem to do whatever they wish..

“Most men can survive adversity but if you want to test the character of a man, give him power.” -Abraham Lincoln.

Joe Biden should stop making excuses for his failures. The Dems have affinity and leniency toward terrorists.

He's a politician and one of his job description and qualities is lying barefaced.

Say different things at different times to suit his own objective at the moment


The truth is that America needs to allow Afghans to decide their fate. This country is sitting on resources worth over $1trn of which lithium is top of the list.

That your phone is powered by lithium battery and so it's the resources of the future. America won't be allowed to control such massive power

Racoon:
Joe Biden should stop making excuses for his failures.The Dems have affinity and leniency toward terrorists.

To deal with an enemy isn't an easy task. At times, a carrot and stick approach is a panacea for peace.

I remember when the twin towers were hit in new York in 2001. Its a moment I'd never forget. I was in a cyber cafe then, trying to search for some foreign schools for my Msc on the Internet and the news came on the air gboom! People thronged the cafe in the night to call their people in USA, just to be sure they're safe. This happened shortly after George Bush boasted to crush them in the middle East. Democrats( as the name implies) have always been synonymous with peaceful rule across the globe, allowing people's opinion to count and the majority voice to prevail, especially in decision making processes while the republicans are directly opposite.

I welcome Biden's stance on Afghanistan. Afterall, Bush never found any weapon of mass destruction which he had spent billions of dollars looking for, in the war ravaged Iraq

I still sell affordable laptops with free delivery and pay on delivery.
Details on my signature

To what end? check frm now till tomorrow it changes nothing.President Biden took the best decision that would keep making America gr8 while some shortsighted people wail.The American primary aim of invading afghan has long been achieved so why keep wasting the tax payers money on a country which has destroyed and continued to destroy the future n lives of its citizens with a false&extreme doctrine?A country where even the oppressed believe in the sharia law but would only scream for the world when they fall prew to the same doctrine they so much adore.Agree or not, hate him or love him; Biden got this one right.The effect of covid19 on America's resources is there for every1 to see or do you think the wargames you've been hearing about been carried-out by the major world powers na joke-----Cmon, America is preparing for another fucking war and they need all the concentration&money they can lay their hands on.

Gbam

Racoon:
Joe Biden should stop making excuses for his failures.The Dems have affinity and leniency toward terrorists.

This was how the situation was going to end. It would have ended like that, whoever was in charge...Biden, trump etc.

The only way Biden could have prevented this situation was to have simply committed to staying in Afghanistan for the next 100 years, while brutally building up a large secular population.

If there is anyone to blame, it is the Afghan people, and their army. They got trained, they got the money, they got the stuff...and they simply allowed a bunch of illiterate seventh century enthusiasts to take over their country ...just like that. Just like that.

Sleepy, demented, senile and old Joe. This Ezi bida will soon shift blame to Trump.

Nonsense.

EmekaA125:
Sleepy, demented, senile and old Joe. This Ezi bida will soon shift blame to Trump.

21 years is no joke. They did their best. It was time to leave

Everyone : US should leave Afghan war for the Afghanistan.

US: okay we are leaving and left.

Everyone: that is so not good why don't you save the people?

While Afghan soldiers japa...

Biden is the major problem that the Afghans have..

EmekaA125:
Sleepy, demented, senile and old Joe. This Ezi bida will soon shift blame to Trump.

What would you have wanted him to do...wait another month or another 100 years

Buhari 2.0

And the fact checked that Biden pulled out irresponsiblely. We all know the US was fighting an unnecessary war there. The only main reason they were justified to invade the place was to get rid of Bin Laden. And after, they should have moved out. The truth is that they brought it on themselves. Now, the bone of contention is that he moved out recklessly. He could have done it far way better. And this is what Trump and the whole world is telling him. The record will forever be there. The coming days will say if history will be nice to him. All these talks are just nemesis after death. This is a point against him for a long time. It may crush every other thing he will do. I pray he survives it. If those Talibans ends up harboring more terrorists and they start bombing the US again, then, Biden is finished. Period.

Joe Biden my man and my best president... Americans can not continue to waste the lives of there galant soldiers just for a country dat can not make sacrifice for d good of there country....if e dey easy all ds yeye abi coward Arab Emirates should continue where America stop..

Eriokanmi:
To deal with an enemy isn't an easy task. At times, a carrot and stick approach is a panacea for peace.

I remember when the twin towers were hit in new York in 2001. Its a moment I'd never forget. I was in a cyber cafe then, trying to search for some foreign schools for my Msc on the Internet and the news came on the air gboom! People thronged the cafe in the night to call their people in USA, just to be sure they're safe. This happened shortly after George Bush boasted to crush them in the middle East. Democrats( as the name implies) have always been synonymous with peaceful rule across the globe, allowing people's opinion to count and the majority voice to prevail, especially in decision making processes while the republicans are directly opposite.

I welcome Biden's stance on Afghanistan. Afterall, Bush never found any weapon of mass destruction which he had spent billions of dollars looking for, in the war ravaged Iraq

Weapon of mass destruction? hahaha! They only wanted to lay their hands on Osama n also take d war to the door step of the sept 9, 2011-bombers sect and equally give them a reason to fear American.And it has all been achieved.

All I see is trump loyalist here in Nigeria condemning a good man with a good decision.

Good to see Biden get fact-checked.

No more Trump to blame... lol

Anyway, pulling out of Afghanistan was a great decision. No issues here at all. Let the Afghans decide their future.