After 20 years, about $1 trillion, and the loss of 2,448 American service members and 3,846 U.S. contractors, the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan.
Emotions ran high over the weekend and into Monday as Americans watched as Taliban militants marched into Kabul, the Afghan Capital, and seized control of the presidential palace.
“We gave them every chance to determine their own future,” President Joe Biden said of the Afghan military and leadership as he addressed the nation Monday afternoon after returning to the White from Camp David. “We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,” Biden said, adding that he does not regret the decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.
In September 2020, President Donald Trump said he planned to fully withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by May 2021. Biden adopted Trump’s plan to remove the troop, but pushed the withdrawal date back several months.
On April 14, Biden announced the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, a date he later moved up to Aug. 31.
U.S. forces began withdrawing in May. Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military installation in Afghanistan, was evacuated July 6. One month later, the Taliban began taking control of capital cities among Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
On Saturday, one day before the Taliban seized control of Kabul, Biden issued a statement explaining how America would proceed in Afghanistan amid the quickly rising conflict.
“I have directed the Secretary of State to support President [Mohammad Ashraf] Ghani and other Afghan leaders as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a political settlement,” Biden said.
Biden also warned that any action by the Taliban “that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response.”
On Sunday, Ghani fled the presidential palace in Kabul before Taliban fighters entered the building and were photographed standing behind the president’s desk with their machine guns.
Now, U.S. military forces have taken control of the Kabul airport and are working to remove American citizens and others seeking to flee the nation.
Both Democrat and Republican leaders and pundits have voiced their concern, outrage, and sorrow over the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan on Twitter:
The post What These 22 Lawmakers and Pundits Are Saying About Taliban’s Takeover of Afghanistan appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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