The U.S. involvement in the Afghanistan War will end 12 days earlier than initially planned as President Joe Biden promises to provide the embattled Kabul government with diplomatic and humanitarian support, and military backup, from afar.
“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 Aug. 31,” Biden said Thursday at the White House, adding “speed was safety.”
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Biden repeated that the United States did not go to Afghanistan to “nation-build” but said he told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani he would keep pushing for the rights of women and young girls.
“It’s the right and the responsibility of Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country,” he said. “Afghan leaders have to come together and drive towards a future that the Afghan people want and that they deserve.”
Aside from diplomatic and humanitarian support, Biden confirmed the U.S. would continue providing technical and financial assistance to security forces and the country’s air force.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had foreshadowed a somber tone to Biden’s remarks, advising reporters Thursday his address would not be “a mission accomplished moment” or “a moment of celebration.”
Instead, she said his speech would emphasize “the security challenges he inherited in Afghanistan.” While repeating that the status quo “was not sustainable,” she insisted the U.S. had achieved “exactly what we intended to do.”
“Get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, deliver justice to [al Qaeda founder] Osama bin Laden, root out the terrorists threats so Afghanistan could never be used as a base from which to attack the United States and our allies,” she said.
Biden is accelerating special visa applications for “Afghan allies,” such as interpreters, before the Sept. 11 deadline as the Taliban reassert themselves across the country. His administration is working to fly applicants to neutral countries by August as experts predict the government will be toppled within six to 12 months.
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U.S. forces left Bagram Airfield this month, once the headquarters for the Afghanistan operation. About 650 troops will remain behind, mostly to help secure the U.S. Embassy in nearby Kabul.
