WHITE HOUSE – U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak Wednesday about his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11 — the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
A senior administration official said ahead of the president’s remarks that Biden had determined “that the best path forward to advance American interests is to end the war in Afghanistan after 20 years, so that we can address the global threat picture as it exists today, not as it was two decades ago.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Brussels Wednesday to discuss the withdrawal plans with NATO allies, and said the United States remains committed to Afghanistan’s future.
“Together we have achieved the goals that we set out to achieve, and now it is time to bring our forces home,” Blinken said.
Biden’s decision will keep 3,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline that had been agreed to in a deal Washington negotiated in Doha last year with the Taliban when Donald Trump was president.
“We’ve long known that military force would not solve Afghanistan’s internal political challenges, would not end Afghanistan’s internal conflict. And so, we are…
