I took Biden's statement to mean that it was either a choice between escalating things in Afghanistan or leaving by the deadline, and he took the "principled" stand to do the latter. That non-escalation is the controversial decision says a lot about where the U.S. is right now.
Somebody ought to make a "Lost In Translation"-esque movie about the election of the new Estonian president.
I took Biden's statement to mean that it was either a choice between escalating things in Afghanistan or leaving by the deadline, and he took the "principled" stand to do the latter. That non-escalation is the controversial decision says a lot about where the U.S. is right now.