All U.S. troops in Afghanistan out by 9/11: Joe
President Biden will pull all remaining American troops out of Afghanistan by this year’s 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in hopes of finally putting an end to the longest-running war in U.S. history, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
The withdrawal order, which Biden is expected to formally announce in a speech Wednesday, means U.S. soldiers will remain in Afghanistan past a May 1 deadline set last year by former President Donald Trump.
The Taliban, which has been fighting U.S. troops on and off since the Afghanistan war broke out in 2001, threatened last year that it would renew attacks on American soldiers if all forces weren’t out of the country by May 1.
It’s unclear if the Taliban will follow through on those threats in light of Biden’s plan to withdraw troops by Sept. 11 instead.
Speaking on a conference call with reporters Tuesday, the senior Biden administration official said the U.S. pullout will begin well ahead of May 1, with the last soldiers shipping out by Sept. 11.
The official said the U.S. has conveyed to Taliban leaders “in no uncertain terms” that they will face severe consequences if they conduct attacks on American or allied forces while the draw-down is underway.
“We will hit back hard,” the official said.
More than 3,000 U.S. soldiers remain in Afghanistan, along with nearly another 7,000 allied coalition forces.
The U.S. has maintained a military presence in Afghanistan since late 2001, when it invaded after accusing the Taliban of providing a safe haven for Al Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.
Nearing its 20th anniversary, the Afghanistan War is the longest-running military conflict in U.S. history. More than 2,300 U.S. service members have died in the war.
Past administrations have unsuccessfully tried to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
But withdrawals have been complicated by concerns that the Taliban could retake control of the country if the U.S. leaves, as the Afghan government remains in need of foreign support to operate.
Hawkish foreign policy experts have long warned that an abrupt U.S. exit would also jeopardize achievements made in Afghanistan over the past couple of decades on women’s rights, education and other issues.
The Biden administration official sought to assuage such concerns, saying the U.S. will remain “deeply engaged” with the Afghan government despite not maintaining a military presence.
“We will use our full toolkit to ensure the future that the Afghan people are seeking has the best chance of coming about,” the official said.
Trump’s now-void May 1 deadline came about in February 2020 after lengthy negotiations with Taliban leaders.
The Biden official said Trump’s time line was never feasible.