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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStatement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
Last edited Sat Aug 14, 2021, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
August 14, 2021
Statements and Releases
Over the past several days I have been in close contact with my national security team to give them direction on how to protect our interests and values as we end our military mission in Afghanistan.
First, based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.
Second, I have ordered our armed forces and our intelligence community to ensure that we will maintain the capability and the vigilance to address future terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
Third, I have directed the Secretary of State to support President Ghani and other Afghan leaders as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a political settlement. Secretary Blinken will also engage with key regional stakeholders.
Fourth, we have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts US personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong US military response.
Fifth, I have placed Ambassador Tracey Jacobson in charge of a whole of government effort to process, transport, and relocate Afghan special immigrant visa applicants and other Afghan allies. Our hearts go out to the brave Afghan men and women who are now at risk. We are working to evacuate thousands of those who helped our cause and their families.
That is what we are going to do. Now let me be clear about how we got here.
America went to Afghanistan 20 years ago to defeat the forces that attacked this country on September 11th. That mission resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden over a decade ago and the degradation of al Qaeda. And yet, 10 years later, when I became President, a small number of US troops still remained on the ground, in harms way, with a looming deadline to withdraw them or go back to open combat.
Over our countrys 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in US history. One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another countrys civil conflict was not acceptable to me.
When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessorwhich he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on US forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew US forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choicefollow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our forces and our allies forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another countrys civil conflict. I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistantwo Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/14/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-afghanistan/
JohnSJ
(92,131 posts)niyad
(113,258 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(145,129 posts)Hekate
(90,643 posts)brer cat
(24,559 posts)I agree with his decision. I hope our troops and Afgan allies are removed safely.
bahboo
(16,337 posts)Response to Tactical Peek (Original post)
Post removed
Tetrachloride
(7,833 posts)orangecrush
(19,531 posts)That were put in the pentagon in Trump's final weeks been booted yet?
Because something really smells fishy here.
mcar
(42,301 posts)bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)I hope it doesn't get too bad there, but 20 years of trying to help and getting nowhere really, that's enough. I hope the RW can at least see that Biden is following through on something Trump started, and which both sides should be able to agree is the right thing. In spite of how shitty it's likely to get for the women of that country. That issue is more what the UN is for anyway, and not something bombs and soldiers have ever been able to solve.
onethatcares
(16,166 posts)clear, concise, and most of all, an intelligent declaration.
Thank you, President Biden.
Biophilic
(3,645 posts)I hate that the people in Afghanistan are going to have to deal with this, but they always would have had to deal with this situation. Once we stepped in under Bush it was a foregone conclusion. And yes, I believe that 9/11 originated in Saudi Arabia but that's a truth that may never be supported by the government ever.
dsp3000
(483 posts)I love joe but the time for a strong military response is now
chia
(2,244 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)to whip up emotion for a strong military response.
I am not dismissing how awful Afghan culture is toward women, at all.
We are all disgusted about the treatment of women, girls and LGBT people at the hands of the Taliban. I feel helpless and angry about it. I have nothing but hate for the Taliban and view it as a cancer that has metastasized in Afghan culture.
However, a strong military response has not solved the problem of the existence of the Taliban nor will it in the future. Thats what President Biden is trying to tell you with his statement.
I dont know what the answer is, but I would suggest you read The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi to better understand how the right has always used women to justify war, and then abandons any pretense of helping them. The right is doing this as we speak.
Faludis book is an important work of feminist thought, published in the wake of the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. It altered my thinking about how military interventions alone do not liberate women, and how women are used as propaganda to only be tossed aside.
Perhaps the liberation of Afghan women and girls would require relocating them from Afghanistan to another country. I really dont know. But endless war against an entrenched patriarchal culture is not the solution.
JCMach1
(27,556 posts)GoodRaisin
(8,922 posts)It's really nice not to have a lazy and stupid unqualified president who lies all the time anymore.
McKim
(2,412 posts)This is just wonderful! The buck stops at Biden's desk!!!!! Now we have money for Day Care, Public Health, Railroads and many nice things! As an anti war activist who lost her brother in law for a lie in Vietnam, this is truly a great thing! Thank you, President Biden!!!!
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)crickets
(25,962 posts)Botany
(70,489 posts)"One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military
cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another countrys civil
conflict was not acceptable to me."
Politicub
(12,165 posts)President Biden doesnt sugarcoat or mince words.
Its no wonder that Trump cozied up to the Taliban: He has a thing for despots and other dregs of humanity.
chia
(2,244 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,843 posts)Link to tweet
TEXT
@cspan
Pres. Biden: "I'm now the fourth United States president to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth...it's time to end America's longest war. It's time for American troops to come home."
2:40 PM · Apr 14, 2021
keithbvadu2
(36,770 posts)To Biden's critics: what is your exit strategy?