Ending Our 20-Year Military Presence in Afghanistan

• Yesterday, President Biden spoke directly to the American people and made clear that the war in Afghanistan is now over. He is the fourth president who faced the question of whether and when to end this war, and yesterday he honored his commitment to end it.  
   
• While some say we should continue a so-called low grade effort in Afghanistan at low risk to our service members and at a low cost, the president believes there is nothing low grade, low risk, or low cost about any war.
   
  • After twenty years of war in Afghanistan – after 800,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan, after 20,744 American service members injured, and after 2,461 American personnel lost– President Biden refused to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight in a war that should have ended long ago.
  • After more than two trillion dollars spent in Afghanistan – a cost estimated to be over $300 million a day in Afghanistan for two decades – he refused to continue a war that was no longer in service of a vital national interest.
  • And most of all – the president said there are not enough people who understand how much we have asked of the 1% of this country who puts on the uniform – and who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. They and their families will carry the cost of war with them their whole lives.
     
• The president expressed his thanks to the commanders, service members, diplomatic corps, and intelligence professionals who executed a dangerous mission in Kabul and airlifted more than 124,000 people to safety in the course of 17 days – the largest airlift in U.S. history. He paid tribute to the twenty service members who were wounded in service of this mission, and the thirteen heroes who gave their lives.
   
• Ninety-eight percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. And for these remaining Americans – there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want.
   
• Leaving by the August 31 deadline was not arbitrary. It was designed to save American lives. The president’s predecessor signed an agreement with the Taliban that left this Administration with a choice: either honor the commitment and leave Afghanistan or commit thousands of more troops and go back to war. The president was not for extending a forever war, nor was he for extending a forever exit.
   
• The president made clear we succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago, and then we stayed for another decade. The threat of terror has changed – expanded to other countries – and our strategy has to change, too.
   
• We will continue to hunt down those who engage in terrorism against us and our allies, and they will pay the ultimate price. We will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy,  international influence, and humanitarian aid. We will continue to speak out for basic rights of the Afghan people – especially women and girls – as we do around the world. We will continue to keep human rights at the center of our foreign policy – not through endless military deployments, but with diplomacy, economic tools, and rallying the world.