US Military Mission In Afghanistan To End August 31: Joe Biden

"The status quo is not an option," Joe Biden said of staying in the country. "I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan."

The US military mission in Afghanistan will end on August 31, President Joe Biden announced Thursday, as Afghan commandos battled the Taliban for control of a provincial capital in the most brazen assault by the militants since Washington stepped up its troop withdrawal. Nearly 20 years after it invaded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the US military has "achieved" its goals in the country, killing Osama bin Laden, degrading Al-Qaeda and preventing more attacks on the United States, Biden said in a White House speech. "We are ending America's longest war," he said. "The status quo is not an option," Biden said of staying in the country. "I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan."