US Presidency
2021

This advice was flatly refused. Mr. Ghani insisted the Afghan forces would fight, but obviously he was wrong. So I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghans—Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives—American lives—is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery? I’m clear on my answer: I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past—the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the national interest of the United States, of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country, of attempting to remake a country through the endless military deployments of U.S. forces. Those are the mistakes we cannot continue to repeat, because we have significant vital interests in the world that we cannot afford to ignore. I also want to acknowledge how painful this is to so many of us.