crisis in afghanistan
Biden says U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan until all Americans are out
President Biden said he is committed to keeping United States troops in Afghanistan until all Americans who want to leave the country are able to do so, telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he is focused on getting this done before Aug. 31.
Earlier this year, Biden set Aug. 31 as the deadline for a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and he told Stephanopoulos in an interview airing Wednesday night that on that day, "if there's American citizens left, we're gonna stay to get them all out."
There are 10,000 to 15,000 Americans and between 50,000 and 65,000 Afghans the United States wants to evacuate, Biden said, and "the commitment holds to get everyone out that, in fact, we can get out and everyone who should come out. And that's the objective. That's what we're doing now. And I think we'll get there."
The U.S. needs to get 5,000 to 7,000 people out of the country every day to hit this target, and must do so with the Taliban effectively running the Afghan government. Read more at ABC News.