Top Biden official admits fall of Afghanistan 'unfolded at unexpected speed'

Washington DC: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday acknowledged the security situation in Afghanistan "unfolded at unexpected speed," while maintaining that President Biden stands by his decision to withdraw U.S. troops.

Heavily armed Taliban fighters swept into Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Sunday after the government collapsed, and the Afghani president fled the country, signaling the end of the United States' 20-year effort to rebuild the nation after the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the region, Fox News reported.

Sullivan, during an appearance on ABC News' "Good Morning America" Monday, defended Biden's decision to withdraw troops.

"The president did not think it was inevitable that the Taliban were going to take control of Afghanistan," Sullivan said.

"He thought the Afghan national security forces could step up and fight because we spent 20 years, tens of billions of dollars, training them, giving them the best equipment, giving them support of U.S. forces for 20 years."

"When push came to shove, they decided not to step up and fight for their country," Sullivan said, adding that the president was faced with the question of whether U.S. men and women should be "put in the middle of another country's civil war when their own army won't fight to defend them?"

"And his answer to the question was 'no,' and that is why he stands by this decision," Sullivan said.