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US President Joe Biden has announced that America’s military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31. In a major policy address on Afghanistan as reported by PTI, after a meeting with his national security team earlier in the day, Biden said that the US has accomplished its goals in the country and this was the appropriate time to withdraw.
“Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31st. The drawdown is proceeding in a secure and orderly way, prioritising the safety of our troops as they depart,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
Biden dismissed reports that the Taliban would take over the country soon after the withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan.
“The Afghan government and leadership has to come together. They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place. The question is will they generate the kind of cohesion to do it,” Biden said.
“It’s not a question of whether they have the capacity. They have the capacity. They have the forces. They have the equipment. The question is will they do it. … We are not going to walk away and not sustain their ability to maintain that force and we are. We’re also going to work to make sure we help them in terms of everything, necessities, and other things in the region,” he said.
He said the US military mission in Afghanistan will continue through the end of August.
“We retain personnel and capacities in the country. We maintained the same authority under which we’ve been operating for some time. The United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan, to get to terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and deliver justice to Osama bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base, from which attacks could be continued against the United States,” he said.
Biden said the United States has achieved those objectives.
