Analysis

Biden Said The Mission In Afghanistan Was Never ‘Nation Building.’ That’s Not What He Said In 2001

Ian Haworth
Biden Said The Mission In Afghanistan Was Never ‘Nation Building.’ That’s Not What He Said In 2001
Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images

“Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building,” President Joe Biden stated during his speech on Monday afternoon on the subject of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. “It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy.”

“I’ve argued for many years that our mission should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism — not counterinsurgency or nation-building,” he added.

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