In an address to the nation, President Joe Biden (78) emphasized that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan had been an “extraordinary success”.
Meanwhile, the Americans see the operation as a whole as a failure. 69 percent said that the US had largely missed its goals in Afghanistan, as the Pew Institute announced on Tuesday (local time).
Only a third of Democrats for withdrawal
There was hardly any difference between supporters of the Democrats of US President Joe Biden (69 percent) and those of the Republicans (70 percent). Clear differences emerged in the assessment of the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan: 70 percent of the Democrats supported it, but only 34 percent of the Republicans.
“With 20 years of war, strife, pain and sacrifice behind us, it is time to look to the future, not the past,” said Biden towards the end of a 26-minute speech.
Joe Biden: “The war in Afghanistan is over now”(01:24)
Trump wanted to leave in May
Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump (75), wanted to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan on May 1st. Biden extended the deadline to August 31. In mid-August, the Taliban, whose regime the US-led operation had overthrown in late 2001, took power again.
His predecessor Donald Trump has signed an agreement with the Taliban and promised the withdrawal of US troops, said Biden. He himself had the choice of sticking to it or sending tens of thousands more US soldiers to Afghanistan and continuing the mission. The US alone would have had the choice of either leaving the country or escalating the conflict.
With the withdrawal of the last US soldiers from Kabul airport, the international Afghanistan mission finally came to an end on Tuesday night after almost 20 years.
Pew surveyed 10,348 adults in the United States between Aug. 23 and Aug. 29. The interviews took place while the evacuation mission of the US armed forces and their allies in Kabul was ongoing. It ended when the troops withdrew. (SDA / euc)