WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday declared plans
to end the longest US war and that it is "time for American troops to come
home" from Afghanistan, as he looks to close out 20 years of US military
involvement there even as critics warn that peace is not assured.
اضافة اعلان
In a White House speech, Biden set a goal of withdrawing all
2,500 US troops remaining in Afghanistan no later than September 11, with the
final withdrawal beginning on May 1. By pulling out without a clear victory,
the United States opens itself to criticism that a withdrawal represents a de
facto admission of failure.
"I am now the fourth American president to preside over
an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two
Democrats," Biden said. "I will not pass this responsibility on to a
fifth."
"It is time to end America's longest war. It is time
for American troops to come home," he said.
September 11 is a highly symbolic date, coming 20 years to
the day of al Qaeda's attacks on the United States that prompted then-President
George W. Bush to launch the conflict. The war has cost the lives of 2,400
American service members and consumed an estimated $2 trillion. US troop
numbers in Afghanistan peaked at more than 100,000 in 2011.
Meeting NATO officials in Brussels earlier, Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said foreign troops under NATO command in Afghanistan will
leave the country in coordination with the US withdrawal by September 11, after
Germany said it would match American plans.
Blinken also spoke by phone with Pakistan's army chief on
Wednesday and discussed the peace process, according to a statement from the
media wing of Pakistan's military.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wrote on Twitter that he has
spoken with Biden and he respects the US decision. Ghani added that "we
will work with our US partners to ensure a smooth transition" and "we
will continue to work with our US/NATO partners in the ongoing peace
efforts."
The Democratic president had faced a May 1 withdrawal
deadline, set by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, who tried but failed
to pull the troops out before he left office. Biden's decision will keep troops
in Afghanistan past that deadline, but officials suggested troops could fully
depart before September 11.
There is a summit planned about Afghanistan starting on
April 24 in Istanbul that is due to include the United Nations and Qatar.
The Taliban, ousted from power in 2001 by US-led forces,
said it would not take part in any meetings that would make decisions about
Afghanistan until all foreign forces had left the country. Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid on Wednesday called on the United States to adhere to the
deal the group reached with Trump's administration.
"If the agreement is committed to, the remaining
problems will also be solved," Mujahid wrote on Twitter. "If the
agreement is not committed to ... the problems will certainly increase."
'FIND A WAY TO COEXIST'
In Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, officials said they would
carry on with peace talks and their forces defending the country.
"Now that there is an announcement on foreign troops
withdrawal within several months, we need to find a way to coexist," said
Abdullah Abdullah, a top peace official and former presidential candidate.
"We believe that there is no winner in Afghan conflicts and we hope the
Taliban realize that too."
US officials can claim to have decimated al Qaeda's core
leadership in the region years ago, including tracking down and killing the
group's leader Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan in 2011. But ties
between the Taliban and al Qaeda elements persist and peace and security remain
elusive.
Successive US presidents sought to extricate themselves from
Afghanistan, but those hopes were confounded by concerns about Afghan security
forces, endemic corruption in Afghanistan and the resiliency of a Taliban
insurgency that enjoyed safe haven across the border in Pakistan.
There is concern over the impact a withdrawal would have on
human rights in Afghanistan given the gains, particularly for women and girls,
during the past two decades.
"I am worried about my future," said Wida Saghar,
a writer and women's rights activist in Kabul. "An unknown future awaits
us, when foreign forces leave and the civil war intensifies ... then who will
think about women's rights? Who will care about us?"
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