Joe Biden calls for withdrawal from Afghanistan
Joe Biden speaks from the White House on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, April 14, 2021. AP - Andrew Harnik
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US President Joe Biden on Wednesday confirmed the departure of US troops by September 11 from Afghanistan, and urged the Taliban to keep "their commitment" not to threaten the United States.
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"
The time has come to end this never-ending war
."
Twenty years after their deployment, Joe Biden confirmed in a solemn speech to the White House the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Stressing to be "
the fourth American president to manage the American military presence in Afghanistan
", he promised not to pass "
this responsibility to a fifth
", deeming it futile to wait "
to create the ideal conditions for a withdrawal
".
The United States will begin its withdrawal on May 1.
But they "
will not leave in a hurry
", assured Joe Biden.
As his team had announced the day before, Joe Biden specified that American troops and those of NATO will have left Afghanistan "
before the 20th anniversary of these heinous attacks of September 11
".
For the US president, the US has achieved its goal.
“
I think our presence in Afghanistan should be focused on why we went there in the first place: to make sure that Afghanistan does not serve as a base to attack our country again.
That's what we did.
"
"
We will hold the Taliban accountable for their commitment not to allow any terrorist to threaten the United States or its allies from Afghan soil
", also warned the 46th President of the United States, asking Pakistan, China , to Russia, India and Turkey to “support” Afghanistan.
Washington promises close collaboration with NATO
A few hours earlier in Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken himself gave the first scoop of the announcement to the 29 other NATO member countries.
A courtesy which contrasts with the four years of presidency of Donald Trump where the members of the Atlantic Alliance were often confronted with a fait accompli, observes our correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Benazet
.
While some allies, especially Europeans, had expressed their doubts about the advisability of leaving in 2021, NATO members now believe that they have the guarantee of transatlantic coordination of their military strategy.
"
I am here to work closely with our allies, according to the principle that we have established from the beginning: to go there together, to adapt together, and to leave together,"
Antony Blinken told them.
We will work closely, in the weeks and months to come, towards a safe, deliberate and coordinated withdrawal of our forces from Afghanistan.
"
A statement that the Atlantic Alliance confirmed this Wednesday evening in a statement: "
The Allies have decided that we will begin the withdrawal of forces from the" Resolute Support "mission by May 1.
This withdrawal will be ordered, coordinated and deliberated.
We anticipate that the withdrawal of all US forces and those of the mission will be completed in a few months.
"
Concern in the Afghan population
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said "
respect
" this decision, which he discussed with his American counterpart.
The Afghan security forces "
are fully capable of defending their people and their country, which they have been doing from the start,
" he said in a tweet after speaking by phone with Joe Biden.
But among the Afghan population, this withdrawal of foreign troops raises many concerns, reports our correspondent in Kabul, Sonia Ghezali.
Because after 20 years of foreign presence, the capital and the main cities of the country have changed.
There are trendy mixed cafes where students and young people involved in politics meet to discuss.
Above all, and even if they mainly concern urban areas, progress has been made in terms of education, freedom of the press, and even women's rights.
The literacy rate for young girls is now 37% - compared to 66% for boys.
Over 250 women sit on the Supreme Court.
More than 30% of seats in Parliament are reserved for them.
Women are also present on the political scene in the media.
A situation at odds with that experienced by Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, where women could not leave their homes unless accompanied by a man from their family.
What will happen to all these advances if the Taliban re-enter Afghan society and the political scene with their desire to impose a societal model based on Islamic law?
This is the question asked by many civil society activists and defenders of the democratic model in Afghanistan.
Twenty years of conflict
The United States intervened in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The objective of the operation "immutable freedom" launched then by President George W. Bush is to destroy the sanctuaries of the Islamist organization al-Qaeda and to overthrow the Taliban regime which refuses to deliver the Saudi Osama bin Laden, considered like the brain of the attacks.
Within weeks, American troops entered Kabul.
The Taliban regime in place since 1996 is overthrown.
The contingents increased from 1,000 to 10,000 soldiers the following year.
At the height of their presence in 2011, some 100,000 American soldiers were present on Afghan soil.
In May 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in a special forces raid in Pakistan.
The Taliban insurgency did not weaken, however, and despite the end of combat operations in 2014, the war got bogged down with the appearance of the jihadist group Islamic State.
Under the Trump administration, the withdrawal announcements follow one another.
In February 2020, a historic agreement was reached in Doha with the Taliban, paving the way for the final withdrawal of American soldiers.
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