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Headline Roundup April 15th, 2021

Perspectives: Biden Commits to Pulling US Troops Out of Afghanistan

Summary from the AllSides News Team

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced he would “end the forever war” in Afghanistan by gradually withdrawing America’s 2,500 remaining troops from the country between May 1 and September 11, 2021. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken traveled to Afghanistan on Thursday in an unannounced visit, telling Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that the U.S. had an “ongoing commitment...to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan.” Reactions to the announcement were mixed in outlets across the spectrum, with voices on both the left and right offering both support and criticism of the decision.

Featured Coverage of this Story

Biden’s Next Afghanistan Challenge: How to Police It From Outside
Biden’s Next Afghanistan Challenge: How to Police It From Outside

Politico

Opinion

President Joe Biden’s decision this week to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan before September 11 has left policymakers, military leaders and national security professionals wondering what happens next.

Critics haven’t been shy about pointing out that a U.S. withdrawal will leave the Taliban in a powerful position, and could even give Al Qaeda room to grow again. To keep the country from once again becoming a haven for terrorist operations, Biden will need to shift quickly from a “boots on the ground” strategy to something more remote: an offshore counterterror...

Open on Guest Writer - Left
The Wisdom of Leaving Afghanistan
The Wisdom of Leaving Afghanistan

Foreign Policy

Opinion

No sooner did news leak that U.S. President Joe Biden planned to withdraw the remaining 3,500 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan by Sept. 11 than the Washington Post’s editorial board swung into action, penning an April 13 opinion piece condemning the president’s decision. Biden, it huffed, was taking “the easy way out.”

The Washington Post’s reaction matters only insofar as it signals the tide of criticism Biden will face. Those objections amount to a cobbling together of familiar Washington bromides, nourished by the abiding conviction that the United States’ 20-year campaign...

Open on Guest Writer - Center
Biden and Afghanistan – protecting country's stability more important than politics
Biden and Afghanistan – protecting country's stability more important than politics

Fox News Digital

Opinion

Unlike Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, the Soviet Union and the British Empire, the United States finds itself in a unique position that no other nation has found themselves in before when it comes to having a presence in Afghanistan: America is welcome.

Through the stabilizing efforts of the United States military, the NATO mission, and the Afghan government, we have achieved so much. Over 9 million Afghan children are in school today, one-third of whom are young girls who were previously banned from accessing education by the Taliban.

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Open on Guest Writer - Right

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