President Joe Biden said the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will end by August 31, and he called on the country’s leaders to “come together” to prevent civil war, CNBC reports.
“We did not go to Afghanistan to nation build,” Biden said Thursday in remarks at the White House.
After 20 years of war, he said, the ideal conditions that the U.S. had once hoped to bring about before it withdrew troops had never materialized.
“How many more, how many more thousands of America’s daughters and sons are you willing to risk?” said Biden, who first announced the planned departure of U.S. forces in April. “How long would you have them stay?”
“It’s up to the Afghans to make decisions about the future of their country,” said the president.
At the Pentagon, spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was closely monitoring the unfolding security situation in Afghanistan. He said the Taliban had seized dozens of district centers and threaten provincial centers, too.
“We are mindful of the security situation and we are mindful of the Taliban’s advance and that’s why it is so important for us to press for a negotiated political settlement to this war,” Kirby said.
The removal of approximately 3,000 U.S. service members coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which spurred America’s entry into lengthy wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.