Readers react to President Biden’s deadline of Sept. 11 and reflect on the two-decade U.S. experience.
Credit…John Moore/Getty Images
To the Editor:
Re “Biden Sets End Date for Nation’s Longest War” (front page, April 14):
After the murder of my brother-in-law on Sept. 11, 2001, I traveled with a delegation of 9/11 family members to Afghanistan the following January to see what our country’s military response meant for the Afghan people.
We met with Afghan families who, just like us, had lost loved ones who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We met families whose homes were destroyed by U.S. bombs, and children missing limbs from U.S. cluster bombs.
Everywhere we went, Afghans expressed hope that the two decades of war they had lived through were about to end now that the United States had arrived.
Our military response to the crime of 9/11 has led to another 20 years of war for the Afghan people. It has been heartbreaking to witness Afghanistan ripped apart by violence, fueled in part by our country’s reliance on the naïve idea that we can bring peace through war.
So it is with some guarded relief that I welcome the Biden administration’s commitment to withdrawing U.S. troops. I hope that this will finally make space for the Afghan people to rebuild the peaceful society that they deserve.
Kelly Campbell
Portland, Ore.
The writer is a co-founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
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