Sanders Praises Biden for Pledging to Pull Out of Afghanistan, Says Trump Was Right About Ending “Endless Wars”

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:27 pm

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) praised President Joe Biden for pledging to pull troops out of Afghanistan and noted that former President Donald Trump was correct about trying to end “endless wars.”

“What President Biden is doing is picking up on the negotiated agreement that President Trump put together,” Sanders said during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

“I am not a great fan of Donald Trump and his administration, but he was right in trying to end endless wars. These wars cannot continue to go on forever, and we’ve got to learn that in many respects, diplomacy, various types of educational aid, health care aid, is much more important and much more effective than an occupying force on the ground,” he added.

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Logistics are the biggest reason why the conflict could potentially continue even despite Biden’s pledge. Biden established a timetable to withdraw all United States troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. But Trump had attempted to withdraw all U.S. troops by May, and former President Barack Obama announced that he would end the war in Afghanistan in 2014.

Sanders appeared to hint at the continuation of U.S. involvement, saying that the U.S. has to do “the best we can” to continue to support the Afghan military and government but noted that “we do not need to spend huge amounts of money doing that, we do not need to put American lives at stake.”

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.