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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStatement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
Office of the PresidentOver 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 U.S. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. 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 U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. history. One more year, or five more years, of U.S. 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 U.S. Forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. 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.
First, based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. 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 U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. history. One more year, or five more years, of U.S. 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 U.S. Forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. 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.
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Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan (Original Post)
brooklynite
Aug 2021
OP
regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)1. I fear that "those at special risk from the Taliban advance" would number in the tens of millions...
In particular, women who have proven unwilling to live under the extreme form of sharia espoused by the Taliban, and anyone else who doesn't want to return to the particularly oppressive version of the tenth century that is sure to be imposed, this time permanently, once the entire country falls.
Are we willing to evacuate even a fragment of that number?
questionseverything
(9,654 posts)2. We should of armed the women and let them decide which men to keep
We could of left ten thousand troops there to guard the embassy and airport, to step in when the taliban were kidnapping children
I dont have the answers but I am ashamed of how we are leaving things
bluestarone
(16,928 posts)3. Actually the WOMEN
Would be BRAVER than the men! I believe they would be better at protecting their children.