WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in full on September 11, ending 20 years of U.S. military involvement in the country.
In the White House Convention, Biden said that the US “cannot continue the cycle of expanding or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan in the hope of creating the ideal conditions for our withdrawal and expecting a different outcome. “
“I am now the fourth president of the United States to present a U.S. troop representative in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats,” Biden said. “I will not give this responsibility on a fifth.”
Biden said he would begin withdrawing troops on May 1, setting the deadline for full withdrawal in an agreement reached by the Trump administration with the Taliban.
“It’s time to end America’s longest war. It’s time for American troops to return home.”
Biden’s timeline for the withdrawal coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that caused America’s invasion of the war – torn country. The decisive foreign policy decision indicates what the government hopes will be the end of a conflict that cost the lives of some 2,300 US troops and wounded thousands more – and raises questions about the future of the massive international reconstruction effort. It is estimated that more than 100,000 Afghans were killed or wounded during the war.
The Biden government this week shared the president’s decision with NATO allies, and other troops serving from allied countries in Afghanistan will also withdraw, a senior administration official said Tuesday. According to the alliance, NATO has about 7,000 non-US forces in the country.
In addition to NATO, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that senior government officials had reached out to about 50 members of Congress, 44 countries, the European Union and the United Nations on Biden’s decision. The White House outreach will continue, Psaki said.
Biden said he also spoke with President George W. Bush on Tuesday to inform him of his decision.
“While he and I have had many disagreements over the years, we are absolutely united in our respect and support for the bravery, courage and integrity of the women and men in the U.S. military,” Biden said.
Psaki said Biden also discussed the decision with President Barack Obama. In a statement Wednesday, Obama said Biden “made the right decision, adding that” after nearly two decades of harming our troops, it’s time to realize that we’ve achieved everything we can do militarily and that it’s time to bring home our remaining troops. ‘
Biden’s decision comes after a three-month policy review in Afghanistan that stated that any national security threat from Afghanistan is at a “level that we can tackle without a persistent military footprint in the country and without waging war with the Taliban, “a government official said.
Asked if Biden had been warned that peace in the region would not be guaranteed if the US left, Psaki stressed that Biden had “asked that the review not be covered in sugar”.
Biden said the United States would continue to support the government in Afghanistan and provide assistance to the Afghan national army and security. The US will also continue diplomatic and humanitarian work in the country and will support peace talks.
“We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that took place 20 years ago,” Biden said. “It can not explain why we should stay there in 2021.”
About 2,500 troops serve in Afghanistan – the lowest number since 2001. At the height of the war, in 2011, according to the Department of Defense, there were 98,000 U.S. troops in the country.
US troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and overthrew the Taliban government that was defending Al Qaeda, and its leader, Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, sent shock waves through the international community and sparked a huge ground of support and sympathy for America.
Nearly 20 years later, international money makes up about 75 percent of the Afghan government’s national budget. And the US withdrawal calls into question the future of President Ashraf Ghani’s government, which is fighting an increasingly bloody war with the Taliban before a US withdrawal.
Waheed Omar, an adviser to the Afghan president, said the withdrawal of US troops had been discussed repeatedly between US and Afghan governments in the past and that Afghanistan would respect any decision Washington makes regarding its troops.
Afghan National Army recently conducted 98 percent of the operations independently and will be able to do so in the future, Omar said in a statement issued by the Afghan presidential office.
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Biden’s choice of the 9/11 deadline underscores why America invaded Afghanistan in the first place – to prevent extremist groups like Al Qaeda from re-establishing a foothold that could be used to launch attacks against the US.
The conflict largely paralyzed Al Qaeda, leading to the death of bin Laden. But observers and critics fear that a US withdrawal could jeopardize much of the country’s gains in democracy, women’s rights and government, as well as encourage the Taliban, whose primary mission for decades has been to force foreign troops out of the country. .
The withdrawal also runs the risk of leaving the militants in a strong position and being in control of large parts of the country after decades of war that had a devastating impact on Afghans.
Between 2001 and 2018, nearly 60,000 Afghan army and police officers were killed in the violence, according to a Brown University study. It is believed that more than 100,000 civilians were killed or injured in the ten years after 2009, when the United Nations began systematically recording the war’s impact on civilians.
A report by the intelligence community published on Tuesday on global threats to the national security of the United States said the prospects for a peace agreement in Afghanistan were ‘low’ and warned that ‘the Taliban are likely to make a profit on the battlefield’s. ‘.
If the coalition withdraws support, the Afghan government will ‘struggle to keep the Taliban at stake’, the report said. The Taliban is confident he can achieve military victory, he adds.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday that the US had not shared their new plan with them and that the Taliban would comment when that happened.
But two militant leaders in Qatar, where the Taliban hold political office, told NBC News they had rejected proposals for US troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline, presented by US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.
The Taliban have been negotiating a path to peace with an Afghan delegation in Doha since September.
The senior administration official may complete the U.S. withdrawal long before 9/11. Biden said he would visit Arlington National Cemetery later Wednesday to pay tribute to the men and women who died in the war.