Twenty-four hours later, the last American C-17 cargo aircraft roared off Kabul. Biden addressed the nation and vigorously supported his decision to end America’s longest war and pull all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by the Aug. 31 deadline.
Biden stated Tuesday from the White House that he was not going "to extend this forever war." "And I wasn't going to extend an forever exit."
Biden was asked tough questions about how the U.S. left Afghanistan. It was a chaotic evacuation that saw violence and killed 13 American servicemen, as well as 169 Afghans.
His handling of the evacuation has been heavily criticised, especially by Republicans. He said that it was unavoidable that the end of two decades of war, first negotiated by President Donald Trump for May 1, would be difficult and likely violent, regardless of when it was conducted.
Biden stated, "To those who ask for a third decade in Afghanistan war, I ask: 'What is our vital national interest?" He stated, "I do not believe that America's safety and security is improved by continuing to send thousands of troops to Afghanistan and spending billions of money there."
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said that Biden had only made a "forceful assessment" after his speech.
Biden mocked Republicans and Democrats who believe the U.S. would be better off maintaining a limited military presence in Afghanistan. The U.S. had not suffered a combat loss since February 2020, when the Trump administration reached a deal with Taliban to end the war by May 2018.
Biden stated that breaking the Trump deal would have reopened a shooting war. Biden said that those who support remaining at war don't recognize the burden of deployment. This is due to the scourge PTSD, financial difficulties, divorce, and other problems facing U.S troops.
Biden stated, "When I hear that the so-called low grade effort in Afghanistan is at low risk for our service personnel at low cost, I don’t think enough people realize how much we’ve asked the 1% of this nation to put on that uniform,"
Biden is addressing all domestic questions and is also trying to adjust to a new relationship to the Taliban, an Islamist militant group that the U.S. destroyed after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Taliban is now in power in Afghanistan.
