Biden Defends Decision to End US Involvement in Afghanistan
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Elizabeth Shackelford joins WGN 9 to explain why it's the right time for the United States to leave Afghanistan after 20 years of conflict.
![Elizabeth Shackelford WGN](/sites/default/files/styles/wide_xxsml/public/2021-07/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-12%20at%201.33.07%20PM.png?h=c6413324&itok=Qar37cIY)
Senior Fellow Elizabeth Shackelford unpacks the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan: why it's the right time, what the US accomplished during its longest war, and why an uncertain future is better than a bloody status quo.
About the Expert
Elizabeth Shackelford
Former Senior Fellow, US Foreign Policy
![Council staff Elizabeth Shackelford](/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumb/public/2021-01/elizabeth-shackelford-2021.jpg?h=8f305a2b&itok=BQKztFRK)
Elizabeth Shackelford, a former career diplomat who served the US Mission to Somalia and the US Embassy in South Sudan, focuses on building awareness and understanding of a "restraint" approach to foreign policy, which seeks to limit the use of force to core US security interests and favors diplomatic engagement.
![Council staff Elizabeth Shackelford](/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumb/public/2021-01/elizabeth-shackelford-2021.jpg?h=8f305a2b&itok=BQKztFRK)
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![Afghanistan base after US soldiers leave](/sites/default/files/styles/wide_xxsml/public/2021-07/news-afghanistan-21.jpg?h=c73f930b&itok=JLNyGdiK)
REUTERS
"The inevitability of the outcome does not make it any less tragic, but the tragedy does not make the decision to withdraw wrong," Senior Fellow Elizabeth Shackelford explains.
![US soldiers leave Afghanistan](/sites/default/files/styles/wide_xxsml/public/2021-05/dd-afghanistan-exit-21.jpg?h=23949c4f&itok=xwputGYE)
US Air Force
Just a few weeks after announcing the exit, the United States is already making progress withdrawing troops and resources from the site of America's longest war.