Senators were told by Gen. McKenzie that the war in Afghanistan was "not over", contradicting the president.
On August 31, Biden stated, "My fellow Americans. The war in Afghanistan has now ended."
Biden also stated that the US will continue to pursue terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
10 Things in Politics: Get the latest news in politics and economics Loading... Click Sign up to receive marketing emails and other offers from Insider.
On Tuesday, US Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, told senators that the war in Afghanistan is not over. This contradicts the statements of President Joe Biden in the aftermath of the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan, which led to the Taliban takeover.
McKenzie testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Comparatively, Biden declared on August 31 that "My fellow Americans," the war in Afghanistan was over after the last troops had left Afghanistan in August.
Biden stated that 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan had been ended during a speech he made to the United Nations General Assembly.
Biden made it clear, however, that even though he claimed that the war was over the US will continue to pursue terror groups such as ISIS-K and others that might use the pariah states to plot attacks against Americans and the West.
"We will continue the fight against terrorist acts in Afghanistan and other nations. In his speech on August 31, Biden stated that we don't have to wage a ground war in order to accomplish this. "We have what's known as over-the-horizon capability, which allows us to strike terrorists and targets with very few American boots on the ground if necessary."
The war is not over, it has just begun a new chapter. While the US has ceased to be involved in ground operations against Taliban, it is still able to wage war in Afghanistan using other methods via what Biden's advisors call "over-the horizon" capabilities. This means that the US will likely conduct military operations from afar in Afghanistan using drones and other resources to kill and surveil terrorists.
This footprint is likely to be smaller than the 2,500 US troops that advised and supported Afghan forces earlier in the year. It is possible that commandos will be required to quickly insert troops and forces to disrupt terrorist planning and target suspected terrorists. Similar concerns have kept approximately 900 US troops in northeastern Syria, including Green Berets.
Catherine Lutz, cofounder and codirector at Brown University's Costs Of War project, said that "talking about the war being over is simply wrong." She was speaking during a livestream conversation with other scholars about the consequences of war in Afghanistan and the war against terror. Lutz stressed that the war in Afghanistan is not over "by any means."
Lutz said, "This chapter in Afghanistan won't be over even when the last Afghan remembers a loved one who died in war is dead or until the last US vet with a wound from war takes her last disability payments somewhere in the early 2100."
Bipartisan criticism has been levelled at Biden for his handling of the withdrawal. Biden responded by arguing that it was past time to return troops and end the 20-year-old conflict. The president argued that the United States would have no impact on the current situation.
