Washington [US], September 1 (ANI): US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) said that the United States has ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan, which was the “longest war” in American history.
“Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The longest war in American history,” Biden said while addressing the nation on the US ending 20 years of war in Afghanistan.
He also stated that the United States has completed one of the biggest airlifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety from Afghanistan.
“We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most experts thought was possible. No nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and ability to do it. We did it today,” he added.
He also termed military evacuation an “extraordinary success”.
“The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals,” Biden said.
Biden also spoke about the evacuation efforts, saying 90 per cent of Americans who wanted to leave were able to leave.
“The bottom line: 90 per cent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to getting them out if they want to come out,” he said.
Noting that 120,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, Biden said, “No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history.”
“No country in history has done more to airlift out the residents of another country. We will continue to work to help more people who are at risk leave the country. We’re far from done,” Biden added.
Real decision on Afghanistan was between leaving and escalating: Biden
After the US troops left Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) said that the real decision was between leaving and escalating and he was not going to extend a “forever war or extend a forever exit.”
Speaking one day after the last United States troops left Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war, President Biden defended his decision to end the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, calling it “the right decision, the wise decision, the best decision for America.”
“The decision to end US military presence in Afghanistan was based on a unanimous recommendation by civilian, military advisors, service chiefs and commanders in the field. Their recommendation for safe passage of remaining Americans was not to continue,” said Biden.
“I was not going to extend this forever war,” Biden said in remarks from the White House, “and I was not extending a forever exit.”
Biden also said that he takes responsibility for his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, but said he respectfully disagrees with those who say he should have begun mass evacuations earlier, claiming there would have been a rush to the airport.
“I take responsibility for the decision. Some say we should have started it sooner. I respectfully disagree. Had it been before, it would have led to a rush or a civil war. There is no evacuation from the end of the war without challenges, threats we face,” he said.
Biden said the U.S. achieved its original goal in Afghanistan a decade ago by hunting down Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaida leader and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, but still stayed another decade. The terrorist threat has metastasized since then, Biden said, and the U.S. will maintain its fight against it, but he added, “We don’t need to fight a ground war to do it.”
“For those asking for the third decade of war, I ask, what is the vital national interest? In my view we only have one: to make sure Afghanistan can never again be used to launch an attack on our homeland,” said Biden.
Nearly 2,500 U.S. service members have died over the 20-year war in Afghanistan. In his remarks, Biden said that people don’t understand “how much we have asked of the 1 per cent [of Americans] who put on the military uniform.” He cited the war’s costs to America — an estimated USD 300 million a day — as well as human costs to veterans and their families — including, he said, the 18 U.S. veterans who die by suicide each day.
Biden said about 100 to 200 Americans still remain in Afghanistan “with some intention to leave.” Most of them, he added, “are dual citizens, long-time residents who had earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan.”
Biden said that “the bottom line” was that “90 per cent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave, and for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.”
US will continue to support Afghan people through diplomacy, humanitarian aid: Biden
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) said that the United States will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid.
“We will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid. We will continue to speak out for basic rights of the Afghan people — especially women and girls — as we do around the world,” Biden said during a speech at the White House, a day after the US’s chaotic withdrawal ended.
As US military operations end in Afghanistan, Biden said that the end of the war in Afghanistan marks the end of an era for major military operations to remake other countries.
“We must stay clearly focused on the fundamental national security interests of the United States. This decision about Afghanistan isn’t just about Afghanistan. It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries,” Biden said.
“We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan, getting the terrorists and stopping attacks, morph into a counterinsurgency, nation-building, trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and united Afghanistan, something that has never been done over many centuries of Afghanistan’s history. Moving on from that mindset and those kinds of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home,” he stated.
US President also said he refuses to send another generation of young men and women “to fight a war that should have ended long ago.”
“After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refuse to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should’ve ended long ago,” he said.
“It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan,” Biden said.
He further stated, “most of all, after 800,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan … After 20,744 American servicemen and women injured, and the loss of 2,461 American personnel, including 13 lives lost just this week, I refuse to open another decade of warfare in Afghanistan.”
Biden continued to address the estimated more than USD 2 trillion costs of the war and how the money spent may have hindered American national interests over the years.
“What have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities? I refuse to continue a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of our people,” he said.
“We’ve been a nation too long at war. If you’re 20 years old today, you’ve never known an America at peace. So when I hear that we could have, should’ve continued this so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan, at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don’t think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1 per cent of this country who put that uniform on, willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation,” he added. (ANI)
