In 1946, 13,000 troops, tanks and other vehicles took part in a New York City parade to celebrate the victorious conclusion to World War II. In 2021, there apparently will be no such celebrations as the U.S. ends its longest war, leaving behind an emboldened enemy in Afghanistan.
"We're not going to have a 'Mission Accomplished' moment," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday, referencing former President George W. Bush's speech on an aircraft carrier to mark the end of major combat operations in Iraq. The majority of casualties in that war occurred after the speech during a swell of guerrilla warfare.
"It's a 20-year war that has not been won militarily. … We are not having a moment of celebration," Psaki added.
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The U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan is nearly complete, and President Joe Biden announced Thursday at a news conference that America's part in the war will end Aug. 31. Since the invasion in 2001, 2,448 Americans have been killed in combat and another 20,722 were wounded.
Biden said that the Taliban "are at their strongest militarily since 2001," adding that "no nation has been able to unify Afghanistan."
"I will not send another generation of Americans to the war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome," he said.
But he declared that the United States accomplished its primary objectives in the war: killing Osama bin Laden and hampering al-Qaida.
"The focus we had, that I strongly supported, we went for two reasons. One, to bring Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell," Biden said. "Two, to eliminate al-Qaida's capacity to deal more attacks on the United States from that territory. We accomplished both of those objectives, period."
-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
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