Biden Forcefully Defends Ending Two-Decade US War in Afghanistan
Voice of America
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday forcefully defended his decision to end the country's two-decade war in Afghanistan that leaves Taliban insurgents in power, just as they were in 2001.
"We no longer need to fight a war that should have ended long ago," Biden said in a half-hour address from the White House. "I refuse to open another decade of war in Afghanistan." Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. He cited the high cost of the conflict to the United States — 2,461 service members killed, another 20,744 injured and $300 million a day in expenditures. But he said it is time to focus on new threats from around the world, whether from other terrorists in Africa and the Middle East, economic threats from China, or cyberattacks from inside Russia. WATCH: War in Afghanistan Is Now OverPalestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, right, and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, left, leave a podium after marking Independence Day in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024. Demonstrators with Georgian national and EU flags rally during an opposition protest against a foreign influence bill as they mark their country's Independence Day, in the center of in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024.