WASHINGTON – President Biden declared on Wednesday that “it is time to end the eternal war” in Afghanistan, saying that the United States has long completed its main mission of denying terrorists a refuge in the country and that US forces there is no more left. that cost is worth in blood and money.
At the same location in the White House where President George W. Bush started the war after the September 11 attacks almost two decades ago, Mr. Biden made a case that there was no more justification – if there ever was – for believing that the US military presence could turn Afghanistan into a stable democracy.
The approximately 2,500 U.S. troops on the ground there, he said, will be gradually withdrawn from May 1, with the process completed on September 11, a roster meant to end its determination to resolve a troubling and largely failed to end chapter in U.S. foreign policy. .
Military officials suggested the exit could be even faster, leaving only a sign guard for the U.S. embassy. European officials said the NATO forces, which today have a much larger presence than the United States, would also leave.
“War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational enterprise,” he said. Biden claims and noted that servicemen now serving in Afghanistan have parents who served in the same war.
“We have been attacked,” the president said in a gloomy, 16-minute speech with flashes of emotion. “We went to war with clear goals. We have achieved those goals. ”
Mr. Biden has been a critic of the American presence for more than a dozen years, although his concerns were often dominated when he was vice president. Now, investing with the government to order an exit, he argued that the United States had succeeded in its one real task: remove al-Qaeda and ensure that the country never again becomes the starting point for a terrorist attack on the United States would not be. as it was on September 11, 2001.
“We cannot continue to expand or expand our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for withdrawal and expect a different outcome,” he said. Biden said.
“I am now the fourth president of the United States to lead the US troop representation in Afghanistan,” he continued. ‘Two Republicans, two Democrats. I will not transfer this responsibility to a fifth. ”
The tone of mr. Biden emphasized what a humble moment it was for the United States. So many of the goals cited by the military and other proponents of a continued presence in Afghanistan – to turn the country into a stable democratic ally, to weaken the Taliban, to fight corruption and drug trafficking – have proved that it was beyond the capacity of the United States and its allies or made only partial or small gains.
And the cost – in lives, treasure and the focus of the country – was staggering. Mr. Biden said more than 2,400 U.S. servicemen had died in Afghanistan since Wednesday.
Moments after speaking, the president traveled to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the graves of service members who were lost in Afghanistan. He said the decision to withdraw US troops was not difficult because it was “absolutely clear” to him that it was time to end the war.
While standing in the rain between rows of white tombstones, Mr. Pray that he “has always been generation after generation amazed at the women and men who are willing to give their lives for their country.” He said the visit to the cemetery reminded him of his son Beau Biden, who died of cancer in 2015 after serving in Iraq.
In his speech, Mr. Biden – who said he was the first president in forty years to have a child in a war zone – rejected the idea that it was the only way to endanger United States soldiers like his son. goals in places like Afghanistan, where efforts to stabilize and modernize the country by rebuilding its military, civil society and infrastructure have greatly weakened.
‘We’ve given the argument a decade. It has never been proven effective, “the president said. ‘US troops should not be used as a negotiator between warring parties in other countries. You know, it’s nothing more than a recipe for keeping US troops in Afghanistan indefinitely. ‘
In announcing his decision, Mr. Biden mentioned only the other goals that have been added to the mission over the years and that justify the continued US military presence, including ensuring an education for girls and the opportunity for women, promoting a sustainable economy and on the old and creates the leverage to force the Taliban into peace talks.
Everything may have been noble goals, he suggested, but keeping U.S. troops in the country until they were reached was a formula for an eternal presence after the assassination of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“We delivered right to Bin Laden a decade ago,” he said. “And we have lived in Afghanistan for a decade since then. Since then, our reasons for staying in Afghanistan have become increasingly unclear. ”
Foreign Minister Antony J. Blinken said after a meeting with allies in Brussels that the withdrawal of the NATO troop by September 11 did not mean an end to the US commitment to Afghanistan, which provided assistance and advice to the army and the government.
“Bringing our troops home does not mean the end of our relationship with Afghanistan,” he said.
As mnr. Praying to keep his promise to remove all US troops permanently stationed in the country by the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he will achieve a goal that embraces his two immediate predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump . but never completed. However, a clean break will not be easy, and the risks are significant.
In a series of information sessions for Mr. In recent weeks, Pentagon officials have called for a continued, modest presence in Afghanistan to gather intelligence and provide support to increasingly shaky Afghan forces. They also warned that the Taliban could attack US troops and their NATO allies on their way out of the country.
That is why Mr. Biden issued a warning Wednesday, saying the United States “will defend itself and our partners with all the tools at our disposal.”
The president’s speech included an explicit reminder of his own long-held belief that victory in war was impossible, and that Americans, no matter how long Americans remained, would make little difference. With a gloomy tone he did not declare victory or admit defeat; instead, he reverted to the original, narrow goal of protecting the interests of the United States, saying it had been achieved.
“We are going to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that took place 20 years ago,” he said. Biden said and noted that the bravery of the men and women who fought in the country after 9/11. But he added: “It can not explain why we should stay there in 2021.”
On October 7, 2001, a few weeks after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mr. Bush used the Treaty Chamber, where the Spanish-American War was formally concluded in 1898, to tell Americans that the United States was invading. Afghanistan.
At the time, Mr. Bush said that “the only way to pursue peace is to pursue those who threaten it” and he promised that the United States “will not falter, we will not grow weary, we will not falter and did not fail. ”
Twenty years later, Mr. Biden, from the same room, called the matter “just” but said the clarity of the mission Bush had committed was confused, and he said he would no longer accept the argument that more time in Afghanistan would be better results for the American people would deliver.
White House officials said Mr. Pray it with mr. Obama talked about his decision, and the president said he also asked Mr. Bush informed.
Bush has decided not to make Biden’s decision public.
“As he has maintained since leaving office, President Bush will not want to comment on private calls or his successors,” said Freddy Ford, his chief of staff.
A series of Afghan governments have failed to maintain control of large parts of the country, at the heart of the U.S. military’s ‘clear, hold, build’ strategy for years after the initial invasion. Although a succession of Afghan leaders, backed by the United States and its allies, promised to fight corruption, end the drug scourge and establish a stable government, all these gains were broken at best.
Women took a more prominent role in government and girls were educated on a scale not seen before the war began. But the future of these gains is questionable as the Taliban gain more ground.
In a statement on Twitter“President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan said his country” respects the US decision and we will work with our US partners to ensure a smooth transition. ” He added that his country’s security forces were “fully capable of defending its people”.
But in private, Mr. Ghani was buzzing according to the people who spoke to him about the US decision. He fears that this will encourage the Taliban and give them little or no incentive to abide by the terms of the agreement they made a year ago with Mr. Trump did not close. And a lot around mr. Ghani fears that his own government, which is already under influence, could fall if the Taliban decides to try to take Kabul, the capital.
“Just because we withdraw from Afghanistan does not mean the war is over,” said Lisa Curtis, a top Trump security official who handled Afghanistan. “It’s probably getting worse.”
Mr. Biden is the first president to reject the Pentagon’s recommendations that any withdrawal be “based on conditions,” meaning security on the ground must be ensured before Americans withdraw. To do otherwise, military officials have long argued, it would be up to the Taliban to just wait out the Americans – after which they would have little resistance to take further control, and perhaps threaten Kabul.
The decision was applauded by many Democrats, but harshly criticized by most Republicans, who predicted that the withdrawal of U.S. troops would encourage terrorists and hasten the collapse of the Afghan government.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, called the ruling “a serious mistake” and a “retreat in the face of an enemy.”
But even some architects of the original policy agreed that it was time to go. Douglas Lute, a retired general who represents Afghan policy in the National Security Council for Mr. Bush and then for Mr. Obama, with Charles A. Kupchan on Wednesday, wrote to CNN that “those who argue that we should stay in Afghanistan to stop attacks on the homeland are wrong” because the terrorist threat from within the country “has dramatically decreased over the past twenty years is. “
In a statement from Brussels, the NATO Foreign and Defense Ministers stated Biden echoed and announced that the alliance would also withdraw its own troops from Afghanistan on May 1st. There are currently 6,000 to 7,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, which the United States does not count. State.
The NATO statement said that, despite the withdrawal of the troop, it “will continue to stand with Afghanistan, its people and institutions to promote security and maintain the profits of the past 20 years.”
Peter Baker Washington’s reporting, and Steven Erlanger from Brussels.