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2012-2014: Security handover and Bilateral Security Agreement 2012 drawdown. The 2012 pullout of 23,000 American troops from Afghanistan was on 22 July 2012 at the halfway mark according to U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and would accelerate in the coming months. "August will be the heaviest month ...
- 22 June 2011 – 31 December 2016
- Afghanistan
- Withdrawal completed in December 2016 and larger United States presence
- Overview
- Afghanistan War
- U.S.-Taliban peace agreement and withdrawal
withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan, the United States government’s removal of its last remaining armed forces in Afghanistan following the Afghanistan War (2001–14). The withdrawal was completed on August 30, 2021, despite the Taliban’s toppling of the Afghan government earlier that month.
On September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., left thousands dead. The perpetrators of the attacks were members of al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist network that had been allowed by Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, the Taliban, to operate in that country. When the Taliban failed to hand over the leaders of al-Qaeda, including founding member Osama bin Laden, the United States invaded Afghanistan on October 7 to support the Northern Alliance in overthrowing the Taliban and to dislodge al-Qaeda from its safe haven. The Taliban was removed from power only months later, and a new government was set up in its place.
But the new Afghan government struggled to bring stability to the country. Fighting continued between the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Taliban, and civilian casualties were high. In February 2009 and again that December, U.S. Pres. Barack Obama announced a surge in troop levels intended to pacify Afghanistan. In 2010 some 150,000 NATO troops were on the ground in Afghanistan, but the situation remained a virtual stalemate with even higher casualties than before.
By the end of the combat mission, many Americans were weary after years of war in both Afghanistan and Iraq (see Iraq War). The wars—characterized by critics as “endless”—had proven costly in terms of both money and human lives. Military intervention in the Libya Revolt of 2011 and later calls for action in the Syrian Civil War faced fierce opposition from those who worried that U.S. engagement in those conflicts might also inflict high costs. The 2014 rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS]), which filled a power vacuum in a destabilized Iraq, also added to the pessimism about what U.S. military intervention could even achieve.
During the administration of U.S. Pres. Donald Trump (2017–21), the United States took an increasingly dismissive stance on foreign affairs. It withdrew from several international treaties and disengaged from involvement in international institutions and enterprises. Although Trump authorized another troop surge in Afghanistan early in his presidency—with a new threat emerging from the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP; also called ISIS-K), an affiliate of ISIL—the surge failed to halt an advancing Taliban. On December 17, 2018, the United States met with Taliban representatives in Abu Dhabi to discuss the prospect of a peace process. Days later the United States announced its intention to withdraw thousands of its troops from Afghanistan, a move generally interpreted as signaling its seriousness in reaching a peace deal with the Taliban. The announcement caught the Afghan government off guard, but officials reassured the public that Afghan forces were already handling most security operations anyway.
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On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement. It provided for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops over 14 months on the condition that the Taliban would take part in peace negotiations with the Afghan government and prevent affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIL from operating within Afghanistan. The agreement did not include a condition that the Taliban reach an agreement with the Afghan government.
Despite some initial challenges, the Taliban appeared committed to upholding its side of the bargain, and the United States wasted little time in implementing its withdrawal. By late June, months ahead of schedule, it had reduced the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600. Negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government did not begin until September, however, partly because of the Afghan government’s reluctance to carry out the prisoner swap promised by the United States in the U.S.-Taliban agreement. Talks remained slow-going, and only in December did the two parties agree on a framework for the peace negotiations. Meanwhile, the United States continued to withdraw troops, and by January 15, 2021, only 3,500 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan.
Apr 15, 2021 · President Joe Biden announced the drawdown of all 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan beginning May 1 and concluding by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the war.
Aug 17, 2021 · Trump Strikes a Deal. Feb. 29, 2020 — U.S. and Taliban sign an agreement that sets the terms for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, but do not release two classified annexes that ...
States agreed to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the Taliban agreed to participate in a peace process and refrain from attacking U.S. troops
Feb 9, 2021 · Biden has three options: withdraw U.S. forces as scheduled by May 1; cite Taliban violations as justification for pulling out of the accord and maintaining an indefinite U.S. military presence; or ...
Aug 21, 2021 · The United States had played a major role in supporting anti-Soviet mujahideen, but U.S. attention to Afghanistan declined with the withdrawal of Soviet troops after the 1988 Geneva Accords; the U.S. embassy in Kabul was evacuated for security reasons in January 1989 and remained closed until 2001.
