Secretary of State visits Afghanistan to discuss exit of US troops

UNITED STATES Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to try to sell to Afghan leaders and a wary public President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all American troops from the country and end America’s longest-running war.

Mr Blinken sought to assure senior Afghan politicians that the United States remains committed to the country despite Mr Biden’s announcement a day earlier that the 2,500 US soldiers remaining in the country would be coming home by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks that led to the US invasion in 2001.

“I wanted to demonstrate with my visit the ongoing commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan,” Mr Blinken told President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul. “The partnership is changing, but the partnership itself is enduring.”

“We respect the decision and are adjusting our priorities,” Mr Ghani told Mr Blinken, expressing gratitude for the sacrifices of US troops in his country.

Later, in a meeting with Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the National Reconciliation Council, Mr Blinken repeated his message, saying that “we have a new chapter, but it is a new chapter that we’re writing together.”

“We are grateful to your people, your country, your administration,” Mr Abdullah said.

Nato immediately followed Mr Biden’s lead on Wednesday, saying its roughly 7,000 non-American forces in Afghanistan would be departing within a few months. Mr Blinken arrived in the Afghan capital from Brussels, where he and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed Nato officials on the US decision and won quick approval from the allies to end their mission in Afghanistan.