A historic mark following the "America First" revolt and amid rising public disapproval of the costly "Forever Wars".
Previous three Presidents (Bush, Obama, Trump) own this 20 years long war and its costs; Trump and Biden should get credit for ending the longest war and the way it ended. Some pro-war neoconservatives including a prominent Obama administration official are calling for sending US troops back again but hopefully won't come to that.
Last plane carrying Americans from Afghanistan departs as longest U.S. war concludes
The final flight capped a bloody and chaotic end to the conflict, as fighting and terror attacks amid the evacuation scramble left hundreds dead.
Aug. 30, 2021, 5:08 PM EDT
By Rebecca Shabad and Shannon Pettypiece
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Monday the U.S. had completed efforts to evacuate its remaining civilians and troops from Afghanistan, effectively ending the longest war in American history.
“I’m here to announce the completion of our mission in Afghanistan,” Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie told reporters in a virtual briefing. "The last C-17 took off at 3:29 pm."
The departure of the last U.S. plane from Afghanistan capped a bloody and chaotic end to the conflict. In the war's final weeks, fighting and terror attacks amid the scramble to evacuate thousands of Americans and Afghans left 13 service members and hundreds of civilians dead. The U.S. is not expected to have any diplomatic or military presence in the country after this point, officials said.
"The president stands by his decision to bring our men and women home from Afghanistan," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Biden is expected to make remarks on the end of the war in the coming days, Psaki said.
McKenzie said more than 6,000 Americans were evacuated representing the "vast majority of those who wanted to leave at this time." He said the number of remaining Americans is in the "very low hundreds."
Feds to investigate whether 5 states that ban mask mandates are violating student rights
A White House official said Monday that since the Taliban took control of Kabul in mid-August, the U.S. had evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 116,700 people. Since the end of July, the U.S. has relocated approximately 122,300 people, the official said. About 1,500 Afghans were evacuated from the country over the last 24 hours and every service members is now out of the country, McKenzie said.
The evacuation continued “uninterrupted” Monday, the White House said, despite a barrage of rockets that had been fired toward Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
On Sunday, about 250 Americans remained in Afghanistan and were seeking to leave the country, according to a State Department spokesperson, who said that assistance was being coordinated “around the clock for this group.” The official said that those Americans might already be at the airport in Kabul or “in the process of being guided there, and all have information on how to reach us.”
The State Department was also in touch Sunday with about 280 additional people who identified themselves as Americans but were either undecided about leaving Afghanistan or said that they did not intend to leave.
nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/last-plane-carrying-americans-afghanistan-departs-nation-s-longest-war-n1278012
Related
US expands Afghan refugee program
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us