Biden Says Afghanistan Can Sustain Government After U.S. Troops Leave

As the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan Friday, according to two U.S. officials, President Joe Biden was reiterating the need for the Afghan government to handle their own security.

"Look, we're in that war for 20 years, 20 years," Biden told reporters. "I think they have the capacity to be able to sustain the government."

The Bagram airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.

One of the officials also said the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller, "still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces."

Miller met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Friday and according to a Dari-language tweet by the presidential palace the two discussed "continued U.S. assistance and cooperation with Afghanistan, particularly in supporting the defense and security forces."

There were no specifics but the U.S. is already committed to paying nearly $4 billion annually until 2024 to finance the Afghani national security forces. While no one was calling Miller's visit a farewell, in the backdrop of the evacuation of Bagram Airfield it had the hallmarks of a goodbye.

The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden's promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.

The president also denied Friday that U.S. troops were being withdrawn early. "We are on track to where we need to be."

The U.S. has refused to say when the last U.S. soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns, but also the protection of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport is still being negotiated. Turkish and U.S. soldiers currently are protecting the airport. That protection is currently covered under the Resolute Support Mission, which is the military mission being wound down.

With America preparing for the July 4th holiday weekend, Biden did say he was "concerned" that people who have not gotten vaccinated have the capacity to catch the variant and spread the variant.

"I am not concerned there's going to be a major outbreak, "he said. "But I am concerned lives will be lost."

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