No ‘mission accomplished’ moment, Afghanistan is ’20-year war that has not been won militarily’, says White House

Washington [US], July 9 (ANI): White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Thursday (local time) said the US military drawdown in Afghanistan is not a “mission accomplished” moment and admitted that the “war that has not been won militarily.”

“We’re not going to have a ‘mission accomplished’ moment in this regard. It’s a 20-year war that has not been won militarily,” said Psaki.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden on Thursday confirmed that the US military drawdown in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31.

Psaki later said that President Biden will continue to update the American people as Commander-in-Chief.

“We are proud of the men, women – who served. The President in his remarks today said how grateful he is for their service, the families who have sacrificed over the last 20 yrs. We will continue to press for a political outcome and a political solution,” added Psaki.

Earlier, Biden has set a deadline of September 11 for the final pullout of the few remaining troops from Afghanistan. Talking about the early exit from Afghanistan, he stressed, “To me these risks were unacceptable. There was never any doubt that our military performed this task efficiently and with the highest level of professionalism. That’s what they do and the same is true of our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and partners who have supported.”

Regarding the objectives of war in Afghanistan, he stated, “As I said in April, the US did what we went to do in Afghanistan, to get the terrorists who attacked the US on 9/11 and deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden and to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base in which attacks could be continued against the US.”

“We achieved those objectives. That’s why we went, “stressed Biden. (ANI)