Biden denies Taliban-controlled Afghanistan will look the same 20 years after 9/11
19 August 2021
President Biden on Thursday rejected the notion that Afghanistan will look the same on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 as it did when the Taliban first ruled, telling ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "There was a guy named Osama bin Laden still alive and well."
Why it matters: In defending his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, Biden has repeatedly stressed that the original purpose of the 2001 invasion was to dismantle al-Qaeda and deny the terrorists a safe haven to launch another attack against the U.S.
The big picture: The U.S. will commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks next month with the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, despite 20 years of military involvement and billions of dollars spent supporting the Afghan government.
- Biden has criticized the notion of "nation-building" and said it is not up to the U.S. to engage in another country's civil war in order to protect women's rights through military force.
- But military leaders have warned that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups could reconstitute faster now that the Taliban has taken over, and Biden himself acknowledged that the threat could return sooner than anticipated.
What they're saying: "It's not true. They're not going to look just like they were when we were attacked," Biden responded when asked how he will explain the Taliban controlling Afghanistan on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
- "There was a guy named Osama bin Laden still alive and well. They were organized in a big way that they had significant help from other parts of the world," he continued.
- "We went there for two reasons, George, two reasons. One, to get bin Laden, and two, to wipe out as best we could — and we did — al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. We did it."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.