Biden To Announce He Will 'End America's Longest War' In Afghanistan

The United States will withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, President Biden will announce on Wednesday, turning the page on a conflict that has cost trillions of dollars and the lives of more than 2,300 American troops.

"We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021," Biden is expected to say, according to excerpts released by the White House. He will say the U.S. cannot continue "hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result."

The withdrawal of U.S. troops will complete a process that began under the Obama administration, starting with a drawdown from a peak of more than 100,000 U.S. service members in the country in 2011.

As of 2021, some 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. As many as 1,000 more special operations forces are also reported to be in the country. Biden is expected to say the U.S. will continue diplomatic and humanitarian work in the country, including assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump, had pledged to the Taliban a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by May 1, which Biden had previously said would be "tough" to meet.

A senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday that the withdrawal would not be conditions-based, as Biden had deemed such an approach "a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever."

Some U.S. personnel will remain in the country, which the administration official said would be necessary to protect America's diplomatic presence in the country.

The White House said the president will visit Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery following the speech, the location where U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried.

Watch Biden's remarks live beginning at 2:15 p.m. ET. [Copyright 2021 NPR]