President Joe Biden is set to withdraw all United States troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, according to a U.S. official, ending the longest war in U.S. history on the 20th anniversary of the terror attack that drew the country into the conflict.
The president will speak Wednesday on “the way forward” regarding Afghanistan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
Biden’s new deadline is several months after the May 1 deadline negotiated by the Taliban and the Trump administration. The president had hinted for weeks that he would let that deadline lapse.
At a press conference last month, Biden said it’s “going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline,” but said that he “can’t picture” troops being in Afghanistan next year.
“I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave,” the president said in a recent interview ABC News. “The fact is that was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the former president worked out. And so we’re in consultation with our allies, as well as the government.”
In the interview, Biden blamed the lack of cooperation from the Trump administration and his transition team for the uncertainty.
“The failure to have an orderly transition from the Trump presidency to my presidency, which usually takes place from Election Day to the time being sworn in, has cost me time and consequences,” he said.
As of January, there were 2,500 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan.
According to the administration official, the only U.S. forces remaining in Afghanistan will be those deemed necessary to protect diplomats in the country. An exact number had yet to be decided.
The extended timeline will allow a safe and orderly withdrawal of American troops in coordination with NATO allies, the administration official added.
Biden’s decision risks retaliation by the Taliban on U.S. and Afghan forces, possibly escalating the 20-year war. And it will reignite political division over America’s involvement in what many have called the endless war.
An intelligence community report issued Tuesday about global challenges for the next year said prospects for a peace deal in Afghanistan are “low” and warned that “the Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield. If the coalition withdraws support, the report says, the Afghan government will struggle to control the Taliban.
In a February 2020 agreement with the administration of President Donald Trump, the Taliban agreed to halt attacks and hold peace talks with the Afghan government, in exchange for a U.S. commitment to a complete withdrawal by May 2021.
Over the past year, U.S. military commanders and defense officials have said that attacks on U.S. troops have largely paused, but they say the Taliban have increased attacks on the Afghans. Commanders have argued that the Taliban have failed to meet the conditions of the peace agreement by continuing attacks on the Afghans and failing to totally cut ties with al-Qaida and other extremist groups.
When Biden entered the White House in January, he was keenly aware of the looming deadline and had time to meet it if he had chosen to do so. He began a review of the February 2020 agreement shortly after taking office, and has been consulting at length with his defense and military advisers as well as allies.
In recent weeks, it became increasingly clear that he was leaning toward defying the deadline.
“It’s going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline,” Biden said in late March. “Just in terms of tactical reasons, it’s hard to get those troops out.” Tellingly, he added, “And if we leave, we’re going to do so in a safe and orderly way.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
