United States  President  Joe Biden said withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan to end the 20-year war was the “best” and the “right” decision for America. He said there was no reason to continue in a war that was no longer in the service of the “vital national interest” of the American people.

Speaking one day after the last United States troops left Afghanistan , ending America’s longest war, President Biden defended his decision to end the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, calling it “the right decision, the wise decision, the best decision for America.”

“I was not going to extend this forever war,” Biden said in remarks from the White House, “and I was not extending a forever exit.”

Biden also said that he takes responsibility for his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, but said he respectfully disagrees with those who say he should have begun mass evacuations earlier, claiming there would have been a rush to the airport.

“I take responsibility for the decision. Some say we should have started it sooner. I respectfully disagree. Had it been before, it would have led to a rush or a civil war. There is no evacuation from the end of the war without challenges, threats we face,” he said.

Biden said the U.S. achieved its original goal in Afghanistan a decade ago by hunting down Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaida leader and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, but still stayed another decade. The terrorist threat has metastasized since then, Biden said, and the U.S. will maintain its fight against it, but he added, “We don’t need to fight a ground war to do it.”

“For those asking for the third decade of war, I ask, what is the vital national interest? In my view we only have one: to make sure Afghanistan can never again be used to launch an attack on our homeland,” said Biden.

There is nothing low-grade, low-risk, or low-cost about any war. It was time to end the war in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/jAGbWnBzol

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2021