President Joe Biden marks the second anniversary of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, touting it as one of the “largest airlifts in history.”
On Wednesday evening, Biden released a statement as a reminder of the heavily criticized operation but made no reference to the 13 U.S. service members who died defending Kabul airport during the chaotic military withdrawal.
“Today, we pause to remember the selfless service of generations of brave women and men over the course of the conflict — who, time and time again, sacrificed their own safety and security for that of their fellow Americans. That includes the 2,461 U.S. service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, and 20,744 of their brother-and-sisters-in-arms who were wounded in action,” the president wrote.
“I remain forever grateful to the military members, diplomats, intelligence professionals, and development specialists who not only worked together to advance the United States’ Afghan mission for two decades — but who also conducted our withdrawal with the same resolve and bravery that defined U.S. service in Afghanistan.”
Together, they helped evacuate approximately 120,000 people in one of the largest airlifts in history. And every day since, they have skillfully used every military, diplomatic, and intelligence resource available to continue to protect our homeland from terrorist threats in Afghanistan and around the world,” he continued.
This comes after U.S. troops and diplomats left Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. In addition to Taliban forces seizing control of the Islamic nation, the operation has made them more powerful since the military left $7 billion worth of military equipment.
Recent data from the Department of Defense revealed that the $7.12 billion included aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment, and other materials.
This equipment is now in the possession of the Taliban, who are responsible for killing our men and women in uniform. They later boasted about their arsenal of weapons on the day they stormed and took over Afghanistan.
The Taliban paraded part of the military arsenal and showed just how extensive it is, as well as insulted America by flying over the building of the former U.S. embassy with a Chinook military helicopter.
