Taliban Begins Hunting Afghan Pilots as US Withdraws
U.S. President Joe Biden made the official announcement Thursday that he will bring home our American troops, and end the 20 year war in Afghanistan on August 31st.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday “Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31st”
Biden announced withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan “After 20 years — a trillion dollars spent training and equipping hundreds of thousands of Afghan National Security and Defense Forces, 2,448 Americans killed, 20,722 more wounded, and untold thousands coming home with unseen trauma to their mental health — I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome”
The President continued “Today, the terrorist threat has metastasized beyond Afghanistan. So, we are repositioning our resources and adapting our counterterrorism posture to meet the threats where they are now significantly higher: in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.”
However many Americans have highlighted that the recent order to withdraw troops from Afghanistan—and reposition them to other countries—may be giving opportunity to the Taliban to continue increasing their expansion, and gain more resources which could be used to harm America. According to Reuters, the Taliban have claimed to currently control 85% of Afghanistan.
https://twitter.com/aawayne/status/1413500457763307521?s=20
In an interview after Biden’s Press Conference, the President was questioned by reporters:
Q “Do you trust the Taliban, Mr. President? Do you trust the Taliban, sir?”
THE PRESIDENT: “You — is that a serious question?”
Q “It is absolutely a serious question. Do you trust the Taliban?”
THE PRESIDENT: “No, I do not.”
Q “Do you trust handing over the country to the Taliban?”
THE PRESIDENT: “No, I do not trust the Taliban.”
Q “So why are you handing the country over?”
The Taliban—which currently have no air force—have been hunting and assassinating Afghan pilots in front of their families.
Could the Taliban’s “rise to power” in Afghanistan give the group more resources to harm the U.S.?