(Aug. 16) President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Monday, fighting back against criticism of a move that pitched the country into chaos as the Taliban reasserted control. “I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said Monday as he addressed the nation from the East Room of the White House. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces.” Biden said the U.S. would continue to fight terrorism in Afghanistan even after the pullback. He said the move showed that he was honoring his commitment to military personnel to end the war in Afghanistan. He noted that former President Donald Trump had already drawn down the U.S. presence in the country to a fraction of its previous size after reaching a deal with the Taliban last year in Qatar. “The choice I had to make as your president was to follow through with that agreement, or to go back to be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season,” Biden said. --- Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake