President Joe Biden has promised to offer diplomatic and humanitarian support, as well as military backup, to the embattled Kabul administration from afar, bringing the US engagement in the Afghanistan War to a close 12 days sooner than anticipated.
Biden reiterated that the US did not go to Afghanistan to "nation-build," but that he promised Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that he would continue to advocate for women's and young girls' rights. Aside from diplomatic and humanitarian aid, Biden stated that the US will continue to provide technical and financial support to the country's security forces and air force.
US military mission in Afghanistan to conclude on August 31
Biden's speech would not be a mission completed moment or a time of celebration, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who told reporters Thursday. Biden said Thursday at the White House, "When I announced our drawdown in April, I said we would be out by September, and we are on track to meet that target. Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31."
Per CNBC, the White House acknowledged in April that US soldiers began the herculean task of withdrawing from Afghanistan. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that it has finished more than 90% of the work. The update from the United States Central Command, which controls America's military reach from Northeast Africa to South Asia, came in nearly two months ahead of Biden's earlier deadline.
In recent days, the administration has attempted to portray ending the fight as a choice taken by Biden after determining that it is an "unwinnable war" with no military option. Even as the Taliban made fast inroads over large areas of the nation, Biden underscored the argument for his decision.
After former President Donald Trump's administration reached an agreement with the Taliban to stop the US military deployment by May 1, the new pullout date was set. Biden said shortly after entering office that US troops would be out before the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden planned from Afghanistan, where he was given sanctuary by the Taliban, The Associated Press reported.
With US and NATO allied forces quickly dwindling in recent weeks, suspicion grew that US combat operations has already come to an end. However, by selecting August 31 as the deadline for the drawdown, the administration acknowledged that the prolonged conflict is nearing its end while also giving itself some breathing room to deal with unresolved issues.
The administration is still working on the terms of a security deal with Turkey for the Kabul airport, as well as the probable departure of thousands of Afghans who supported the US military operation. Given that Trump had already decided to remove US forces, Biden said that the prolonged US military engagement would have increased assaults on American troops and NATO members.
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Bidens vows not to send another generation of troops
The President promised that the US would support Afghan leaders as it handed over total control of Afghanistan's territory to the government, which the US oversaw, while also stating that he did not believe that keeping troops in the region would result in a better outcome. "I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome," Biden said, as per The Independent via MSN.
The president's formal address comes as Taliban forces have made rapid gains in Afghanistan in recent weeks as US forces have withdrawn from long-held positions in the country, including Bagram Air Base, where the US is said to have left thousands of prisoners, including Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, and to have pulled out in the middle of the night without informing Afghan counterparts. Thousands of Afghans who fear Taliban retaliation as a result of the US withdrawal are anticipated to benefit from the initiative.
The Taliban, on the other hand, cannot overthrow the Afghan government and do not pose a significant danger of gaining power, according to Biden. In the face of a North Vietnamese invasion, he dismissed comparisons to the Vietnam War, which concluded with a defeated US initiating a hurried evacuation of US soldiers and South Vietnamese allies.
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