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Why Biden Decided to Withdraw from Afghanistan?

The White House has declared that American troops stationed in Afghanistan will leave in September, ending their 20-year presence. Why has US President


Joe Biden decided to retreat from Afghanistan?

Firstly, this has been a costly campaign. The United States has spent more than US$2 trillion on its war effort against the Taliban and thousands of lives have been lost.
Secondly, the US withdrawal timetable adds urgency to the
peace talks between Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban. Last year, president Donald Trump agreed to the Taliban’s demand that US forces completely withdraw by May 1, a deadline that Biden now deems hard to achieve, though he also recognises the necessity of withdrawing as soon as possible, which would help to end the insurgency.

Let Afghans determine their own future
Biden has made a very timely and astute decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, and its domestic struggle with the Taliban (“Joe Biden unveils US withdrawal from Afghanistan in speech heavy on symbolism”, April 15). We have expended billions of dollars and human resources, including time and intellectual energy at the highest level without a good outcome.
Biden’s decision is not without precedent considering all the good reasons the US withdrew from South Vietnam many years ago. North and South Vietnam had much in common; if the Vietnamese people could not fight for and decide for themselves, then how could American soldiers, even though more than 58,000 sacrificed their lives?
The people of Afghanistan share a common religion, Islam, with the Taliban. Why shouldn’t Afghans determine their own fate without the US? Lest we forget, the Soviet Union also tried many decades ago to intervene in Afghanistan without success.

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