BIDEN: U.S. TROOPS COULD EXTEND AFGHANISTAN STAY

President Joe Biden on Thursday did not rule out the possibility of U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan through the end of the year, and one of his top generals told Congress that Afghanistan’s military forces need American assistance to successfully counter the Taliban.

Biden, at his first news conference as president, repeated his assessment that it will be hard for the United States to meet the May 1 deadline for a full American troop withdrawal, as outlined in a peace agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban.

“It’s not my intention to stay there for a long time,” Biden said, “We will leave. The question is when we leave.” When asked if U.S. troops will still be in Afghanistan next year, he said, “I can’t picture that being the case.”

Earlier in the day, Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told a Senate hearing that, “the capabilities that the U.S. provides for the Afghans to be able to combat the Taliban and other threats that reside in Afghanistan are critical to their success.”

Clarke echoed the sentiments of other military leaders when he said it was clear that the Taliban have not upheld their commitment to reduce violence in Afghanistan and instead have made a deliberate decision to increase attacks. Those attacks have largely been against Afghans and haven’t targeted Americans.

With his comments, which are backed by assessments from commanders about the precarious security situation in Afghanistan, Biden may be laying the groundwork for a decision to at least temporarily extend America’s force presence in the country beyond the May 1 deadline, nearly two decades after the war there began.

Clarke, at the Senate hearing, declined to provide any details of possible options he has outlined to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.