Date uploaded: 2021-08-31 21:00:53
President Joe Biden defended the end of the nation's longest war in an address to the nation Tuesday.
Biden again promised to bring home any remaining Americans in Afghanistan who want to leave and called the airlift and evacuation process a success, despite criticisms from across the political spectrum.
The U.S. military ended up evacuating more than 5,500 Americans out of Afghanistan and said between 100 and 200 Americans remain, Biden said.
He said “90%” of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were evacuated and committed to use diplomatic means to ensure any remaining Americans can leave. The Biden administration has said many of the Americans still in Afghanistan have deep roots and family in Afghanistan and that they were undecided whether they wanted to depart.
Biden also said the terrorism threat to the U.S. has "metastasized across the world well beyond Afghanistan."
"The threat from terrorism continues in its pernicious and evil nature, but it's changed, expanded to other countries," Biden said. "Our strategy has to change too."
"I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars a year in Afghanistan," he continued.
In his speech, the president also issued a stark waring Tuesday to the terrorist group ISIS-K: “We’re not done with you yet.”
ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing at the Kabul airport as the U.S. and its allies were scrambling to evacuate people from Afghanistan. Thirteen U.S. service members and at least 169 Afghans were killed in the attack.
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