Biden mentions Afghanistan withdrawal during end-of-term speech

US President Joe Biden raised the issue of his decision to end American military presence in Afghanistan during an end-of-term foreign policy speech Monday, saying he “saw no reason to keep thousands of servicemen” there.

“Today, I can also report to the American people [as] the first president in decades who’s not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor,” the 82-year-old said, adding that “the primary objective of war had been accomplished” when SEAL Team Six took out Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden during a daring Pakistan raid in 2011, the New York Post reported.

“I believe[d] that going forward, the primary threat of Al Qaeda would no longer be emanating from Afghanistan, but from elsewhere, and so we did not need to station sizeable number[s] of American forces in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that he “had a choice” on whether to keep the troops there.

“In my view, it was time to end the war and bring our troops home, and we did.”

The US withdrew its final soldiers at the end of August 2021, which resulted in the immediate collapse of the White House-backed republic government and ushered in the Islamic Emirate as the new rulers.

President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, January 20.