In April of 2021, President Biden announced that U.S. troops would be removed from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, after 20 years at war. The Trump Administration came to a diplomatic agreement with the Taliban, a militant group in Afghanistan, and the Biden Administration decided to follow through with that agreement.
Terms of the Agreement
The agreement made between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, known as the Taliban, and the US declared that the United States was to scale down the number of forces to 8,600 within 135 days and withdraw from five bases. Within 9.5 months the United States was expected to remove all troops from Afghanistan. In response, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was to not allow any of its members to threaten the security of the United States, cooperate with any group in Afghanistan threatening the security of the US, or provide legal documents to those who pose a threat to the US and its allies.
In a speech explaining his decision, Biden explained his decision by saying“more and endless American military force could not create or sustain a durable Afghan government.” He argued that the primary goal for invading Afghanistan was “to ensure Afghanistan would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again,” and that goal had been achieved.
Subsequent to President Biden’s speech in April, the Taliban released an official statement on their thoughts of the Biden administration delaying complete withdrawal from Afghanistan to September 11, 2021. The Taliban’s statement relayed that failure to completely withdraw all troops by May 1, 2021, “opens the way for the Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate to take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences.”
Events Leading up to the Withdrawal
In May of 2021, the Department of Defense Attorney General released a report stating the Taliban had increased its attacks against Afghanistan government forces in the first months of 2021. The Taliban had also appeared to be plotting with al-Qaeda for, “large-scale offenses.” The next month, a spokesperson for the Taliban stated that after the United States leaves Afghanistan the Taliban’s main goal will be creating an “Islamic government.” In July, the U.S. military withdrew from Bagram Airfield, the largest airfield in Afghanistan.
Withdrawal and Aftermath
On August 6, the Taliban gained control of Nimroz, its first province. Nine days later, Taliban fighters entered Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital. The President of Afghanistan fled the country to Tajikistan and the United States sent a helicopter to evacuate US diplomats. The next day, President Biden addressed the nation saying he did not regret his decision of removing the US troops out of Afghanistan. Biden elaborated, “I cannot and I will not ask our troops to fight on endlessly in another country’s civil war.” The last military plane left Kabul on August 30, 2021. Officially the 20-year war with the United States in Afghanistan has come to an end. An estimated 2,400 United States service members were killed, more than 20,000 injured, and 800,000+ served.
