Biden: The U.S. does not trust the Taliban, but is 'counting on' their self-interest

published 26 August 2021

President Biden offered his condolences to the families of the U.S. troops and Afghan civilians who lost their lives in the attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan on Thursday, and condemned the back-to-back bombing for which terrorist group ISIS-K has claimed responsibility.

Biden also clarified that while the U.S. may be coordinating with the Taliban to secure the perimeter of the airport, "no one trusts them." The U.S. is simply capitalizing on the mutual interest it shares with the Taliban, which is that ISIS-K "does not metastasize beyond what it is," and the U.S. leaves the country as scheduled, he said.

"We're just counting on their self-interest to continue to generate their activities, and it's in their self-interest that we leave when we said and that we get as many people out as we can," Biden explained.

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He continued, "It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of mutual self-interest."

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.