Moulton On Biden's Troop Withdrawal: 'Bring Them Home For Good'

MASSACHUSETTS — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton allowed "it is clear we won't win the war in Afghanistan," while praising President Joe Biden for extending the deadline to remove troops from the country in order to help ensure that once America brings them home they won't have to return to the region where he once served.

"If we have learned anything in the last 20 years it is that there is nothing worse for America’s service members than leaving positions and returning the next year with more troops to fight and die for the same goals we failed to achieve the last time we were there," the Iraq War veteran said in a statement. "I want to bring home our troops, but we must bring them home for good."

Moulton's statement came in response to Biden's declaration that American's longest war in history will effectively come to end on nearly on its 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2021, when most of the remaining 3,000 troops in the country the 9/11 attacks originated in return home.

"It is far more difficult to end a war than to start one," Moulton said. "Almost 20 years on, it is clear we won't win the war in Afghanistan, but there are still devastating ways we could lose."

Biden said in a Wednesday speech: "I am now the fourth American president to preside over and American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth.

"It is time to end America's longest war. It is time for American troops to come home."

Biden said the first of the remaining troops will begin to return to the U.S. around the May 1 deadline that former President Donald Trump announced in the fall, and that most of the remaining troops would be home by Sept. 11.

"I am encouraged that President Biden will extend the deadline for our withdrawal beyond the May 1 deadline arbitrarily set by President Trump," Moulton said before adding conditions he hopes are met before the Americans leave entirely.

"We must maintain a presence in the region to counter the threat of terrorism against the United States," he said. "We must support the stability of the Afghan government so that the Afghan people keep the rights they have gained since the Taliban were forced from power. And, we must ensure that the future situation in Afghanistan doesn't contribute to instability in a region where Pakistan has nuclear weapons and Iran desperately wants influence.

"President Trump set us up to repeat the failures of the past when he attempted to use ending the war for his reelection bid. President Biden's decision to delay the May 1 deadline is the right decision for our service members and for our allies."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)