This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It`s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.

It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refused to send another generation of America`s sons and daughters…

We are currently on pace to finish by August the 31st. The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops.

The choice was leave or escalate. There is no such thing as low risk, low cost, low cost war.

It was time to end this war.

We have to really think about what is in our vital national interest.

We've been a nation too long at war.

No. Americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before August 31st.

And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out. The Taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on television and radio across Afghanistan, on safe passage for…

After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago.

It was time to be honest with the American people again. We know longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refuse to send another generation of America`s sons and daughters…

I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer tonight for three things.

Let me be clear, leaving August the 31st is not due to an arbitrary deadline, it was designed to save American lives.

I want to thank our commanders and men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled in the early morning hours of August 31st Kabul time with no further loss of American lives.

I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago.

there's no such thing as a low-grade, low-risk way to stay in a country that ain't yours, and stay there with people who -- in a culture that ain't yours.

If there are American forces -- if there's American citizens left, we're going to stay there and we will get them all out.

I respectfully disagree.

I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled in the early morning hours of August 31st Kabul time, with no further loss of American…

It was the unanimous recommendation of the joint chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned.

My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over. I'm the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.

The main thing I want to make clear to all of you is we`re providing any help for you that you are going to need.

The longer we stay, starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as ISIS-K.

To ISIS-K, we are not done with you yet. To those who wish America harm, to those engaged in terrorism against us or our allies, know this. The United States will never rest. We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down…

I will not repeat the mistake we have made in the past, the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely.