President Joe Biden plans to have troops out of Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that led to activity in the region, a senior official told reporters on background Tuesday.
“We’ve long known that military force would not solve Afghanistan’s internal political challenges, or its internal conflict, so we’re ending military operations while we focus our efforts on diplomatically supporting the peace process there,” the official said, according to CQ.
There are about 2,500 service members still on the ground there.
Early reaction on Capitol Hill was split down party lines.
“It’s time for the longest war in the history of the United States to end,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said setting “arbitrary deadlines” is “a reckless and dangerous decision” that could “create a breeding ground for international terrorists.”
Then-President Donald Trump had set a May deadline for withdrawing from the region, but Biden said early in his term that timeline was not logistically realistic.
Army photo by SPC Christopher Bouchard
