The US will withdraw all combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of August, and will not send more troops to the country to fight, according to President Joe Biden.
Mr Biden vowed during a national address on Thursday the US would support Afghan leaders as it handed over the reigns for total control of Afghanistan’s territory to the government over which the US oversaw the formation, while adding that he did not see the potential of achieving a better outcome by keeping troops in the region.
"I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome,” said the president.
"Let me ask those who want us to stay: How many thousands more American daughters and sons are you willing to risk? How long would you have them stay?” he asked during his address.
The president’s formal address comes as Taliban forces have made rapid gains in Afghanistan over the past several weeks as US forces have withdrawn from long-held positions in the country, including Bagram Air Base where the US reportedly left thousands of prisoners including Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, and pulled out in the middle of the night without informing their Afghan counterparts.
Roughly 90 per cent of US forces have already left the country, and the remainder are expected to leave by August 31.
The president also addressed his administration’s plan to house Afghan citizens who served as translators or interpreters for US forces. He and White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed at separate events that those Afghans will be flown out of the country before the end of August, and Mr Biden pledged that the US would be a home for them if they so desired.
“There is a home for you in the US if you so choose,” Mr Biden said on Thursday, addressing the Afghans.
The programme is expected to provide refuge for thousands of Afghans who fear reprisal from the Taliban following the US pullout.
But the Taliban, Mr Biden, added, lack the capability to overwhelm Afghanistan’s government and do not pose a significant threat of taking over. He rejected comparisons to the Vietnam War, which ended with a defeated US launching a hasty evacuation of US personnel and South Vietnamese allies in the face of a North Vietnamese invasion.
“The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese Army. They're not remotely comparable in terms of capability,” Mr Biden asserted. “There's going to be no circumstances where you’re going to see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy in the United States from Afghanistan.”
Mr Biden initially said that the US would pull out of Afghanistan by September 11, which would mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The deadline was several months past a target previously set by the Trump administration for a full withdrawal.
Afghanistan has become the US’s longest-running war, costing the country more than $2 trillion in military expenses and causing the deaths of more than 2,400 US service members and tens of thousands of Afghan citizens.
