Calls Unwinnable War, President Biden Asks Afghanistan To Determine Its Own Destiny

United States military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/US Army)

JAKARTA - United States (US) President Joe reiterated his decision to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan, stressing that the Afghan people must determine their own future, rather than sacrificing another generation of Americans in an unwinnable war.

Speaking in the East Room of the White House, President Biden said the Afghan military had the ability to repel the Taliban, which has grown in strength in recent weeks and raised fears of civil war.

President Biden set a target date of August 31 for the final withdrawal of US troops, reducing about 650 troops to provide security for the US embassy in Kabul.

Long skeptical of a 20-year military presence there, President Biden said the United States had long achieved its goals of attacking Afghanistan in 2001, eliminating Al-Qaeda, preventing the events of September 11, 2001, from repeating itself and the mastermind of the attack, Osama bin Laden, in 2011.

"We achieved that goal, that's why we left. We didn't go to Afghanistan to build the nation. And it is the right and responsibility of the Afghan people themselves to decide their future and how they want to run their country," President Biden said, citing Reuters Friday. July 9th.

Illustration of the US military at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/MSgt Benjamin Bloker)

Biden called on countries in the region to help bring about a political settlement, which is difficult to understand between the warring parties. He said the Afghan government should seek a deal with the Taliban to allow them to coexist peacefully.

He said the only way there would be peace and security in Afghanistan was if they worked with modus vivendi with the Taliban. And the possibility of a unified government in Afghanistan controlling the entire country is highly unlikely.

The speech represented Biden's most extensive comments to date on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, under pressure from critics to provide further explanation for his decision to step down.

President Biden said the US plans to move thousands of Afghan translators overseas in anticipation of the end of the US military mission in the country.

They will be transferred to a third country and can apply for US visas to enter the United States, he said. Location is still under construction. Guam, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are possible locations, a senior government official said.

To note, the US military last weekend left Bagram Air Base, which has been the headquarters of military operations in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said the US troop withdrawal was 90 percent complete.

Washington agreed to withdraw in a deal negotiated last year by former President Donald Trump. With President Biden rejecting military leaders who want to maintain a larger presence, to help Afghan security forces and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a staging ground for extremist groups.