Joe Biden has said that he "bears responsibility" for recent events in Afghanistan in the wake of the tragic terrorist attack that took place outside Kabul airport yesterday.
On Thursday, August 26, two explosions and gunfire led to carnage outside the gates of the airport as thousands of Afghans attempted to escape rule by the Taliban after the extremist group seized control earlier this month.
Of the 90 people who were killed in the explosions at Hamid Karzai International Airport, 13 were US soldiers.
Addressing the attack, which ISIS-K claimed responsibility for, President Joe Biden said at a news conference on Thursday, per CNN: "I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened of late."
Biden has faced criticism for what many have deemed a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in order to meet his self-imposed August 31 deadline.
Explaining himself, he added: "But here's the deal, you know ... that the former president made a deal with the Taliban to get all American forces out of Afghanistan by May 1."
The 78-year-old president continued: "Imagine where we'd be if I had indicated on May 1, I was not going to renegotiate an evacuation date. We were going to stay there. I had only one alternative, for thousands of more troops back into Afghanistan to fight a war.
"I have never been of the view that we should be sacrificing American lives to try to establish a democratic government in Afghanistan, a country that has never once in its entire history been a united country."
Elsewhere in the news conference, the Democrat shared a stark message with those who carried out yesterday's tragic events.
He said: "Know this - We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."
Honoring the lost lives, Biden said: "The lives we lost today were lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others, in the service of America."
The US leader also held a moment of silence in respect of those who died in the attack, referring to them as "heroes" and "the best the country has to offer."