commitment. 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, to fight a war, that should have ended long ago. this decision about afghanistan, is not just about afghanistan. it's about ending an era, of major military operations, to remake other countries. we saw a mission of counter-terrorism in afghanistan. getting the terrorist and stopping the attacks. it morphed into a counter insurgency. nation building, trying to create a democratic cohesive in united afghanistan. something that has never been done over many centuries of