<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Biden: 'It was time to end war' in Afghanistan"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">WASHINGTON — Less than four weeks before the fall of Afghanistan, President Joe Biden urged Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani to demonstrate a more capable military defense to change the "perception" as the Taliban made significant gains.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Biden relayed that message in a July 23 phone call,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/excerpts-call-between-joe-biden-ashraf-ghani-july-23-2021-08-31/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a"> according to excerpts reported by Reuters</a> that shed new light on Biden's thinking before the Taliban on Aug. 15 abruptly seized control of the Afghan government.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Neither leader discussed the threat of an imminent Taliban takeover in their last phone call, but one theme was consistent from Biden: the situation needed to improve to change the optics in the final month before the U.S. was to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things aren’t going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban," Biden told Ghani, according to a transcript of the 14-minute phone call published by Reuters <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/exclusive-call-before-afghan-collapse-biden-pressed-ghani-change-perception-2021-08-31/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">that matched audio reviewed by the publication</a>. </p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"And there’s a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Two weeks before the call, on July 8, Biden told reporters in the U.S. that it was "highly unlikely" the Taliban would take control of Afghnistan.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">More:</strong><a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/2021/08/31/afghanistan-biden-says-war-over-he-defends-evacuation-operation/5661824001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Biden praises Afghanistan evacuation, says withdrawal ends era of using military might to 'remake other countries'</a></p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:440px" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/09/01/USAT/32599a73-62f1-46c9-86b9-b44cf6ea54ba-biden_and_ghani.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/09/01/USAT/32599a73-62f1-46c9-86b9-b44cf6ea54ba-biden_and_ghani.jpg?width=1320&height=880&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="President Joe Biden, right, meets with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) ORG XMIT: otkw102"/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">That prediction proved wildly incorrect. The Taliban quickly took over...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/09/01/biden-pushed-afghanistan-president-project-different-picture/5679373001/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
