Afghan President Thanks US Troops at Pentagon: ‘We Die, But We Will Never Be Defeated’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry poses with Afghan President Ashraf Ghanii, left, and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdulla. State Dept(WASHINGTON) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited the Pentagon Monday to thank the U.S. military for their sacrifices in Afghanistan since 2001, telling his audience that Afghanistan no longer wants to be a burden for the U.S. and that the people of Afghanistan will not succumb to terror.
 
More than 600 service members were on hand in the Pentagon Courtyard Monday morning to hear Ghani and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.  Several members of the administration’s national security team were also in attendance, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, Secretary of State John Kerry and Gen. John Campbell — the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
 
Speaking without notes, Ghani thanked the U.S. military for its efforts in Afghanistan and noted the 2,215 Americans who lost their lives in Afghanistan and the 850,000 who have served there.
 
“You have been in the most remotest valleys, and the highest peaks, and the parched deserts, and beautiful valleys, but also in most demanding situations. Each one of you has left a legacy, but I also understand that Afghanistan has marked you. When you wake up at night, sometimes you’re not sure whether you’re back there or here. But what gratifies me as the president of Afghanistan is what I’ve had the honor to hear repeatedly from American veterans, I have left a piece of my heart in Afghanistan. Thank you.”
 
He told the audience that they had touched the lives of each Afghan.

“You were not there just to fight. [I’ll] come back to the fighting. You built schools, you built dams, you build roads, and while the physical infrastructure is great and it’s changed lives, it is the attitude that you brought with it — an attitude of caring, an attitude of discipline and sacrifice. And the Afghan people, but particularly the Afghan security forces, honor that attitude.”
 
Ghani said one of his messages Monday was that “we are not going to be a burden. We do not now ask what the United States can do for us, if I can play on President Kennedy. We want to see what Afghanistan will do for itself, and for the world. And that means we are going to put our house in order. We’re a front line state. We die on a daily basis. I’ve held more children in my arms who have been wounded, or killed in — while playing volleyball, while watching a play in a school, while just simply walking to work.”
 
His remarks were peppered with personal references to invited guests in the crowd selected for their sacrifice in Afghanistan. He also noted the constant violence in his country, but held out hope that it will not defeat the spirt of the Afghan people.

“We die, but we will never be defeated. Terrorism is a threat, it’s evil. But we, the people of Afghanistan, are willing to speak truth to terror by saying, ‘No, you will never overwhelm us, you will never subdue us, we are going to overcome.’”
 
He invited American veterans to one day return to Afghanistan as tourists “re-visiting with your loved ones the peaks, the deserts, the valleys, the hopes of people that your loved ones touched so dearly,” he said. “Come back to us in some years and in that moment, our friends, millions of us will be able to say thank you to each one of you personally, shake your hands, and invite you to our homes.”

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