ABSTRACT
US President Joe Biden and other American officials do not appear to have illusions about the troubles that lie ahead in Afghanistan. In announcing his troop-withdrawal decision on 14 April, Biden said nothing about what the war would look like after the American departure this summer, and made no promises that the social and political gains many Afghans have enjoyed in the last 20 years would be preserved. Much has been said about the expansion of American aims in Afghanistan from going after the 9/11 perpetrators to nation-building and counterinsurgency, suggesting this was mission creep. During the presidential campaign, Biden had said that a small but persistent military presence would be needed in Afghanistan for counter-terrorism purposes. Biden’s decision shows that he has judged the American expenditure of blood and treasure in Afghanistan as only partly ‘worth it’. The US achieved the strategic marginalisation, though not the complete elimination, of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
