U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will address the nation on Tuesday afternoon and “lay out his decision to end the war in Afghanistan after 20 years,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
“In his remarks this afternoon, the President will express his thanks to the commanders and service members who executed a dangerous mission in Kabul and airlifted more than 124,000 people to safety; he will also offer thanks to the veterans and volunteers who supported this effort,” Psaki wrote.
She said President Biden’s speech will include “the tough decisions he made over the last seven months since he took office to bring the war to a close.”
“He will make clear that as President, he will approach our foreign policy through the prism of what is in our national interests, including how best to continue to keep the American people safe,” she said.
It will be President Biden’s first speech since American troops evacuated Afghanistan on Monday night. It comes after a war that last 20 years, beginning in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on U.S. soil, and ending overnight.
More than 200,000 people were killed, including close to 2500 U.S. troops, while trillions of dollars were spent.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
