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Biden Defends Aug. 31 Exit From Afghanistan: 'We Did Not Go to Nation Build'
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July 8, 2021
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1:27Now PlayingPresident Joe Biden said the American military mission in Afghanistan will conclude by Aug. 31, arguing that the U.S. achieved its goals and that it was not there to build a nation.
“I want to be clear: the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan continues through the end of August,” Biden said in a speech at the White House on Thursday. He said the U.S. will continue “to speak out for the rights of women and girls” even as the Taliban makes quick gains amid the American drawdown.
Biden reflected on America’s longest war, which will end just shy of its 20-year anniversary after the deaths of 2,448 U.S. service members and nearly 21,000 wounded. He said the U.S. invasion had succeeded at bringing to justice Osama bin Laden, the perpetrator of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but that “there’s no mission accomplished” -- an allusion to former President George W. Bush’s premature declaration of victory in the Iraq War.
“I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome,” Biden said. “The United States cannot afford to remain tethered to policies created in response to the world as it was 20 years ago.”
Biden also said the U.S. would continue to provide civilian and humanitarian aid, and help the Afghan defense forces maintain their air force. But, he added, countries in the region should “step up their efforts.”
He insisted it is not inevitable that the Taliban will retake control of the country, noting that the Afghan government has a far larger army and an air force.
“They have the capacity, they have the forces, they have the equipment,” he said. “The question is: will they do it.”
But he said the country is “highly unlikely” to be ruled by a single, “unified” government.
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