United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday framed his planned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan around the reason they were sent there in the first place: The September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
“It is time to end America’s longest war,” Biden said during a speech in the White House Treaty Room.
“We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021.”
“I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth,” he said.
The US cannot “continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result”.
Biden set September 11 as the date when the remaining 2,500 or so US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan, effectively ending what many have called America’s “forever war”, a war that cost more than 2,400 US lives and as much as $1 trillion. (Aljazeera)