One day after President Joe Biden’s announcement to withdraw all U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to the country to sell Afghan leaders on the plan to conclude the United States’s longest-running war later this year.
Blinken attended a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday after the decision was announced to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported.
“I wanted to demonstrate with my visit the ongoing commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan,” Blinken told Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul. “The partnership is changing, but the partnership itself is enduring.”
Following Biden’s announcement, NATO said its nearly 7,000 non-American forces in the region would be departing within a few months.
BIDEN TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN BY SEPT. 11
U.S. and NATO forces leaving the region would be an end to 20 years of foreign military presence in a country that has undergone more than 40 years of conflict. Blinken’s visit also served as a reassurance to Afghan leadership that the withdrawal is not an end to the U.S.-Afghan relationship.
Tonight, I had a call with President Biden in which we discussed the U.S. decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by early September. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan respects the U.S. decision and we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition.
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) April 14, 2021
Ghani affirmed on Twitter that he spoke with Biden about the move to withdraw troops and said, “we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition.”
Some U.S. lawmakers such as Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Liz Cheney have pushed back against the withdrawal, arguing it will result in the loss of freedoms that Afghans received after the Taliban was ousted from power in late 2001.
“President Biden, unfortunately, has chosen the highest risk option available, which is to leave no matter what,” Graham said at a press conference Wednesday.
Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are at a stalemate but are supposed to resume later this month in Istanbul.
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The Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, warned on Wednesday that “problems will be compounded” if the U.S. misses a May 1 deadline for withdrawal set during former President Donald Trump’s administration. The insurgent group stopped attacking U.S. forces under the terms of the Trump deal but has not responded to Biden’s announcement the withdrawal will be happening later than the initial agreement.
