Advertisement “I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a speech on April 14. “Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth.” Biden’s speech officially announced his administration’s decision to begin a final withdraw of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on May and complete it by September 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaida attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. that set the United States on the path to war in Afghanistan. The announcement was previewed in a press call on April 13, in which a senior administration official aired the news and set the commentariat to chattering.