(Shortly after his speech, Biden received membersof the World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House to celebrate their 2020 championship.) “All across America people are going to ball games and doing good things.” “The economy is growing faster than anytime in 40 years, we’ve got a record number of new jobs, Covid deaths are down 90 percent, wages are up faster than any time in 15 years, we’re bringing our troops home,” Biden said before Friday’s question-and-answer session began. The White House for weeks had loaded additional symbolic importance to Independence Day as also signifying a turning point in the United States’ fight against Covid-19. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.The president appeared eager on Friday to project optimism on the eve of the holiday weekend, during which he is scheduled to host a July Fourth barbecue at the White House for military members, first responders, frontline workers and their families. I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan-two Republicans, two Democrats. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice-follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our Forces and our allies’ Forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor-which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019-that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a deadline on U.S. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. One more year, or five more years, of U.S. Over our country’s 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in U.S. troops still remained on the ground, in harm’s way, with a looming deadline to withdraw them or go back to open combat. And yet, 10 years later, when I became President, a small number of U.S. That mission resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden over a decade ago and the degradation of al Qaeda. Now let me be clear about how we got here.Īmerica went to Afghanistan 20 years ago to defeat the forces that attacked this country on September 11th. We are working to evacuate thousands of those who helped our cause and their families. Our hearts go out to the brave Afghan men and women who are now at risk. military response.įifth, I have placed Ambassador Tracey Jacobson in charge of a whole-of-government effort to process, transport, and relocate Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants and other Afghan allies. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. Secretary Blinken will also engage with key regional stakeholders.įourth, we have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. Third, I have directed the Secretary of State to support President Ghani and other Afghan leaders as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a political settlement. Second, I have ordered our Armed Forces and our Intelligence Community to ensure that we will maintain the capability and the vigilance to address future terrorist threats from Afghanistan. personnel and other allied personnel, and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. Over the past several days, I have been in close contact with my national security team to give them direction on how to protect our interests and values as we end our military mission in Afghanistan.įirst, based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. Get Involved Show submenu for “Get Involved””.The White House Show submenu for “The White House””.Office of the United States Trade Representative. Office of Science and Technology Policy.Executive Offices Show submenu for “Executive Offices””.Administration Show submenu for “Administration””.
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