Biden vows a new era of ‘relentless diplomacy’ as the world contends

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden defended his decision to end America’s longest war in Afghanistan in his address to the United Nations on Tuesday, a move that he says will allow the U.S. to pivot to other global challenges like the Covid pandemic, climate change and an ambitious China.

Biden’s debut address to the 193-member body since taking office in January comes as the U.S. president strives to rebuild alliances that crumbled under the reign of his predecessor and reclaim a global leadership position. He addressed a scaled-down gathering at the 76th United Nations General Assembly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the majority of leaders delivering pre-recorded remarks.

“As the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions like the Indo-Pacific that are most consequential today and tomorrow we’ll do so with our allies and partners through the cooperation of multilateral institutions like the United Nations to amplify our collective strength and speed,” Biden said from the green speakers’ rostrum.

“Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past. We are fixing our eyes and devoting our resources to challenges that hold the keys to our collective future,” the president said.

That collective future is strained by a continuing pandemic, uncertainties of climate change, as well as rising tensions not only with China, but within the NATO alliance itself. Last week’s decision by the U.K. and the U.S. to strike a military deal with Australia left France on the sidelines, creating a diplomatic detente.

Still, Biden tried to strike a positive tone. “As we close this period of relentless war. We’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy,” Biden said.

Biden explained that U.S. military power “must be our tool of last resort, not our first. It should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world.”

Under Biden’s eye, the U.S. withdrawal of approximately 3,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan ended in disaster as the Taliban carried out a succession of shocking battlefield gains. Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military, which has long been assisted by U.S. and NATO coalition forces, the Taliban seized the presidential palace in Kabul on Aug. 15.

Biden ordered the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops to Kabul to help evacuate U.S. Embassy staff and secure the perimeter of the airport. Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans swarmed the tarmac at the airport desperate to flee Taliban rule.