Tag: Afghanistan war

Biden lays out plan for Afghanistan withdrawal

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President Biden on Wednesday laid out his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and end America’s longest war by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that spurred the conflict.

“War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking,” Biden said during a speech delivered in the Treaty Room of the White House, where former President George W. Bush announced the start of the war. “It’s time to end the forever war.”

Biden’s deadline, if adhered to, would bring to a close a chapter of U.S. history that saw the deaths of more than 2,300 troops and has cost the country as much as $1 trillion. Continue reading.

The American People Deserve More Answers on Afghanistan

The following article by Michael Fuchs, Hardin Lang and Vikram Singh was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 22, 2017:

AP/U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. soldiers maneuver an M-777 howitzer at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan, June 2017.

Eight months into his term, President Donald Trump is finally paying attention to the ongoing Afghanistan War, where thousands of U.S. soldiers are currently fighting. Trump’s new plan seems a lot like the old ones, with even less detail about how the war—or American involvement in it—will end.

For 16 years, America has been fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and trying to help stabilize the country. America’s longest war has claimed the lives of more than 2,400 U.S. troops and 1,136 allied troops, with tens of thousands wounded. In addition to the loss of life, combat in Afghanistan has cost the American taxpayer an estimated $841 billion (if the fiscal year 2018 budget request is met) in defense costs alone. Continue reading “The American People Deserve More Answers on Afghanistan”