The US operation to evacuate people from the airport in the Afghan capital was extremely successful, President Joe Biden said, speaking at the White House in connection with the completion of this operation, Report informs referring to the White House website.
“The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals. For weeks, they risked their lives to get American citizens, Afghans who helped us, citizens of our Allies and partners, and others onboard planes and out of the country.”
“Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan - the longest war in American history. We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history, with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. No nation - no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today,” Biden added.
Ninety-eight percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave, he noted.
“Now we believe that about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan with some intention to leave. Most of those who remain are dual citizens, long-time residents who had earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan. And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.”
“So, we were left with a simple decision: Either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan, or say we weren’t leaving and commit another tens of thousands more troops going back to war,” Biden said.
“That was the choice - the real choice - between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit. The decision to end the military airlift operations at Kabul airport was based on the unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisors - the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the service chiefs, and the commanders in the field.”