Over 4300 Veterans back President Biden on withdrawal, including 150 Afghanistan Veterans

Group of veterans, including those who fought in America’s longest war, write they are “resolute in our support of President Biden’s decision to end the war in Afghanistan.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Over 4300 veterans, including 150 veterans of the war in Afghanistan, from across the United States, are releasing an open letter strongly backing President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan now.

In the letter, the veterans write in part, “President Biden made a very tough call, knowing that this withdrawal would not be pretty, or flawless….Our support for the President’s decision to leave is as resolute as ever. It is the right thing to do, no matter how many people in the chattering class want to claim otherwise.”

The veterans acknowledge the heartbreaking images coming from Afghanistan, and urge continued efforts to get Afghan interpreters and others to safety, writing, “There is no clean way to exit another country’s civil war, especially as one government falls and another takes power. The images out of Afghanistan are heartbreaking, especially for those of us who served there.” 

They continue, “While we can and must learn from this, what is important now is that President Biden do all he can to get all Americans out safely, and help tens of thousands of Afghans out – especially those who put their lives on the line for America. We have seen swift action to do just that, and hope and expect we’ll continue to see progress on that front. Every American should want to see that.”

Finally, the veterans take particular objection over people who promoted the war, and prolonged the war, being the ones being invited to comment in print and broadcast media on the drawdown.

“Let us be very clear – the people who got us into this mess have absolutely no right to say a word about how we get out of it,” the group writes.

The full letter is below:

We the undersigned are resolute in our support of President Biden’s decision to end the war in Afghanistan.

There is no clean way to exit another country’s civil war, especially as one government falls and another takes power. The images out of Afghanistan are heartbreaking, especially for those of us who served there. 

While we can and must learn from this, what is important now is that President Biden do all he can to get all Americans out safely, and help tens of thousands of Afghans out – especially those who put their lives on the line for America. We have seen swift action to do just that, and hope and expect we’ll continue to see progress on that front. Every American should want to see that.

What cannot happen is that the very same elites who pushed us into a 20-year war with no achievable military mission be given an outsized voice to comment on what’s happening now. Let us be very clear – the people who got us into this mess have absolutely no right to say a word about how we get out of it. President Biden made a very tough call, knowing that this withdrawal would not be pretty, or flawless. He is cleaning up the terrible situation that the aforementioned people created, and he is dealing with a terrible agreement struck by the previous administration and the Taliban.

Our support for the President’s decision to leave is as resolute as ever. It is the right thing to do, no matter how many people in the chattering class want to claim otherwise.

Signed

[NAMES OF VETERANS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST]