spanned four presidencies. the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the tall i ban regime in afghanistan. the war against terror will be long. there war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could cease. it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. target the terrorists and criminal networks that sow violence and chaos throughout afghanistan. i will not repeat the mistakes of the pass. i will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth president. i wonder if then president george w. bush knew just how long. joining me now is spencer ackerman, correspondent the the
closing chapter and a coda to the speech that started it. good afternoon. on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime in afghanistan. now the taliban will pay a price. the name of today s military operation is enduring freedom. we will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail. that, of course, was then-president george w. bush announcing the start of the bombing campaign that began on the night of october 7th, 2001, in kabul. it s also where the last u.s. plane carrying american forces lifted off 7,269 days later,
good afternoon. on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against al-qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime in afghanistan. these carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the taliban regime. i gave taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands. close terrorist training camps. hand over leaders of the al-qaeda network and return all foreign nationals, including american citizens unjustly detained in your country. none of these demands were met. and now the taliban will pay a price. we will win this conflict by the patient accumulation of successes. by meeting a series of challenging with determination and will and purpose. we did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it.
out a humanitarian mission to bring americans and their allies to safety. 6,000 americans evacuated since august 14th. 122,000 afghan allies. your message to americans and afghan allies who were left behind? so the military phase of this operation has ended. the diplomatic sequel to that will now begin. in the past 20 years of war, more than 20,000 american service members were wounded fighting against the taliban. the group that harbored the al-qaeda terrorists who struck the united states on september 11th, that same group marched into kabul on august 14th, 20 years later. today they are back in control of kabul. on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against al-qaeda terrorist training camps and military installation of the taliban rerah jet stream in afghanistan. the u.s. congress authorized the president go after the 9/11 attackers exactly one week after the attacks on 18th, 2001.
important and substantial point to be made here. the taliban also promised the united states as part of their agreement that the united states would get out of afghanistan. the taliban also promised that they would not allow terrorists to use the soil of afghanistan and here they were talking about al qaeda and others to target foreign countries. it is apparent, it is very apparent that the taliban cannot even control what is at their front door. never mind terrorist training camps, al qaeda, isis-k in remote parts of the country. never mind control what they re doing in the camps and what they re plotting and what they may be planning to perpetrate in capitol cities of europe or cities in the united states. the taliban s words ring hollow. there are a lot of skeptics that said how can the taliban really guarantee that they re going to top al qaeda.