Hi, Allison again. Thanks for spending your week listening or re-listening to our series from

October about President Biden and the war in Afghanistan. We're about to bring you part three,

but before I go, I want to mention one thing as the new year approaches. There aren't many things

that you can spend $9.99 on that will make a difference to you every day and leave you smarter and more informed

about the stories that matter to you. A pair of socks or a candle isn't going to do that.

But for the cost of those things, you can give yourself or someone you care about a full year

subscription to the Washington Post. 999. That amazing deal is back and ends on January 4th. It only takes a minute to subscribe,

so hit pause and do it now. Go to Washington Post.com slash subscribe.

Okay, that's it. Now here's part three of our series.

In 2010, the U.S. had been at war in Afghanistan for nearly a decade, and things weren't going well.

The U.S. was still fighting back the Taliban, a group that they thought they had already vanquished.

Vice President Biden had become what the New York Times described as President Obama's in-house pessimist on the war. We are making progress. Are we making

sufficient progress fast enough? The answer remains to be seen. He felt strongly that the war needed to end.

And in December 2010, in an interview with NBC's David Gregory,

Biden doubled down on an Obama administration promise

that U.S. troops would start to leave the next year.

We're starting it in July of 2011, and we're going to be totally out of there come

hell or high water by 2014.

The U.S. wouldn't come through on that promise to fully end the war then.

The withdrawal wouldn't happen until Biden finally took the reins as commander-in-chief.

I'm Alison Michaels, and this is the final episode in a special series about President Biden and the war in Afghanistan.

In this installment, I'm back with my colleague, Arjun Singh.

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