President Biden mourned the three-year anniversary of the attack at the Kabul airport, in which 13 U.S. service members were killed.
He named the 13 service members in a statement Monday, also noting that more than 100 innocent Afghans were killed in the airport bombing.
“These 13 Americans—and the many more that were wounded—were patriots in the highest sense. Some were born the year the war in Afghanistan started. Some were on their second or third tour. But all raised their hand to serve a cause greater than themselves—risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, Allies, and Afghan partners,” Biden said.
The chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal was one of Biden’s first major foreign policy moves as president, and Republicans have continued to criticize him and his administration over his handling of the exit. The troops died when a bomb went off at the airport as U.S. forces were working to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan civilians.
“Today, our longest war is over. But our commitment to preventing attacks on our homeland—or our people—never will be. We will continue to disrupt terrorist activity, wherever we find it. We will continue to deliver justice to terrorists who plot against America—just as we have over the last three years with the leader of al-Qaeda and the global leader of ISIS,” Biden said Monday.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Dover Air Force Base three years ago to observe the dignified transfer of the U.S. service members who died in the suicide bombing.