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The United States military mission in Afghanistan will end on August 31, President Biden announced on Thursday during an update on the withdrawal process.
Why it matters: The US has almost completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite the fact that the withdrawal has been accompanied by large territorial gains by the Taliban and a sharp rise in violence.
- US intelligence has warned that the Afghan government could collapse as soon as next year if the Taliban’s offensive on the battlefield intensifies.
- Biden’s original goal was to remove all US forces from the country by September 11th.
What you say: “We did not travel to Afghanistan to build a nation and it is the right and responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to live their lives.” Country, “said Biden.
- The president said the US will continue to support the Afghan government after its withdrawal and continue to promote human rights in the country.
The President noted that a takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is “not inevitable” because the Afghan military outnumbered the Taliban and is better equipped.
- He called the US secret service’s warning that the Afghan government was about to fall “false”.
- “They clearly have the ability to keep the government in place. The question is whether they create the kind of cohesion to do that,” the president said.
Remarkable: Biden repeatedly stressed that there was no point in imposing a system of government on Afghanistan.
- “It is up to the people of Afghanistan to choose which government they want, not us to impose the government on them. No country has ever been able to do this.”
Zoom out: Biden said his administration will begin this month to find and transport Afghan nationals who helped U.S. forces take in countries during the Afghanistan war while awaiting U.S. visas.
- He added that the terrorist threat had “metastasized” beyond Afghanistan and said the US must “meet the threats where they are today”.
This is breaking news. Please check again for updates.
