“My predecessor, the former President, signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove U.S. troops by May the 1st [2021], just months after I was inaugurated. It included no requirement that the Taliban work out a cooperative governing arrangement with the Afghan government, but it did authorize the release of 5,000 prisoners last year, including some of the Taliban’s top war commanders, among those who just took control of Afghanistan.
And by the time I came to office, the Taliban was in its strongest military position since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country.”
– Joe Biden via The White House Briefing Room, “Remarks by President Biden on the End of the War in Afghanistan,” whitehouse.gov, August 31, 2021