United States (US) President Joe Biden addressed the public on Tuesday after concluding the evacuation process and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by the August 31 deadline.
In his address, Biden commended and thanked American soldiers and their Afghan allies for serving and finally bringing an end to the “forever war.”
More than 800,000 US troops served in the longest war in American history for more than 20 years since September 2001, resulting in the deaths of over 2,461 US service members and injuries to a further 20,000.
Biden once again defended and upheld his decision to withdraw entirely from the country. In the weeks following Kabul’s capture on August 15 and the US’s rapid exit, Biden “stood squarely behind his decision”, prioritising American lives and safety, despite the harsh criticism from the international community. He reiterated, “I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision and the best decision for America.”
The US completed “one of the biggest airlifts in history” by evacuating more than 120,000 people to safety since the Taliban seized power in mid-August. Biden credited the success of this mission to “the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and our intelligence professionals.” “Twenty service members were wounded in the service of this mission. Thirteen heroes gave their lives,” he lamented.
Additionally, Biden noted that merely 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan, primarily “dual citizens, longtime residents, decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan.”
He confirmed that the US would continue to participate in the stabilising process in Afghanistan and hold the Taliban to its commitments as per the United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Monday. “For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to getting them out if they want to come out. Secretary of State Blinken is leading to continuing diplomatic efforts to ensure a safe passage for any American, Afghan partner or foreign national who wants to leave Afghanistan,” he stressed.
Last week, Defence spokesperson John Kirby said the US was concerned about the “potential for Taliban retribution and mindful of the threat posed by ISIS-K, the Islamic State affiliate that claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport last Thursday.” As many as 13 US service members and scores of Afghan civilians were killed in an attack that killed close to 200 people.
Furthermore, in his speech, Biden highlighted that America’s primary motivation for the future is to coordinate with the rest of the global community in curbing and countering any terrorist activities. “To make sure Afghanistan can never be used again to launch an attack on our homeland,” Biden said, highlighting America’s national interest.
In the past 17 days of the evacuation process, Biden repeatedly attributed the direness of the situation—the Taliban’s inevitable stronghold over Afghanistan and America’s resolute decision to withdraw—to his predecessor Donald Trump. “He [Trump] signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove US troops by May 1, just months after I was inaugurated. The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1 deadline they had signed on to leave, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces. But if we stayed, all bets were off,” he said.
Responding to the criticism concerning the hastiness of the withdrawal and the images from Kabul that depicted chaos and helplessness of Afghan civilians, Biden said, “There is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced, none.”
I promised the American people I would end this war. Today I've honored that commitment. pic.twitter.com/nozJIBTWb7
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 1, 2021
Biden concluded his speech by formally declaring the end of the Afghanistan war. He said, “When I was running for president, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. Today, I’ve honoured that commitment. It was time to be honest with the American people again.”