Time to bring home troops from Afghanistan: Biden

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Biden, formally announcing an end to America’s longest conflict, has said it is time to bring home the remaining US troops from Afghanistan.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Biden vowed to pull the US troops out of Afghanistan, where they have been fighting for two decades, by Sept. 11 this year.

The New York Times quoted the US president as saying: “It’s time to end America’s longest war. It’s time for America’s troops to come home.’’

Biden, however, warned the Taliban if US forces were attacked on the way out of the country, “we’re going to defend ourselves and our partners with all the tools at our disposal.”

He promised the US would continue supporting efforts for building a stable democracy in Afghanistan and eradicating corruption and the drug commerce from the country.

Biden also assured an education for Afghan girls and opportunities for women, in addition to backing peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Kabul government.

“We delivered justice to (Osama) bin Laden a decade ago,” the president recalled. “And we’ve stayed in Afghanistan for a decade since.”

He was the fourth president to wrestle with the issue of a military presence in Afghanistan, Biden said, pledging he would not pass this responsibility on to a fifth.

Biden explained the final withdrawal of the 2,500 troops would begin on May 1.

Besides costing the US $2 trillion, the largely unsuccessful war has resulted in the deaths of 2,400 American service members.

PAN Monitor/mud

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