WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday urged their country to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan, the longest conflict in U.S. history.
"Soon, we will reach a watershed moment in Afghanistan, as American soldiers begin deploying to fight in a war that began before they were born," Republican senator Rand Paul and Democratic senator Tom Udall wrote in an article published on Wednesday on the website of The Atlantic, a multi-platform U.S. publisher.
"We must listen to the American people, who overwhelmingly oppose endless war in the Middle East," the senators added.
Paul and Udall also argued that the continued existence of U.S. troops "will not enable the Afghan people to rebuild their own nation or stabilize the central government."
The two senators introduced a bipartisan joint resolution last week, asking the Pentagon to form a plan to withdraw American forces within one year.
On Tuesday, the United States and Taliban wrapped up their talks in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The U.S. State Department said later that "meaningful progress" had been made during the talks.
The death toll of U.S. service members has surpassed 2,400 since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
According to the statistics from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 2018 was the deadliest year on record for the Afghan conflict, with a total of 10,993 civilian casualties, including 3,804 civilian deaths.
