After two decades in the middle east, President Joe Biden announced the United States will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
Troops have been present in the nation since October 2001, less than a month after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“We 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 said. “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 … It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home.”
The last remaining members of the American Armed Forces still in Afghanistan will begin to be brought home in May.
“We have to focus on the challenges that are in front of us,” Biden said. “We already have service members doing their duty in Afghanistan today whose parents served in the same war. We have service members who were not yet born when our nation was attacked on 9/11. War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking.”
CNN reports the decision to withdraw troops went against Biden’s advisors, citing concerns about US diplomats stationed there and counter-terrorism efforts.
“All relevant points of view were heard and all arguments were put on the table,” said one senior administration official.
