Durbin Statement On President Biden's Decision To Withdraw U.S. Forces From Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced that all American troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks:
“The longest war in U.S. history will finally end at the cost of more than 2,300 American lives and many trillions of dollars. What began as a hunt for Osama Bin Laden and his gang of terrorists became an effort to bring order to a corrupt nation deep in a tribal civil war.
“I originally supported military action in Afghanistan to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, but we have long since lost sight of our original mission. Twenty years are enough. As we prepare to depart, we must also safely return home Illinoisan Mark Frerichs and all Americans held hostage in Afghanistan.”
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