The Cipher Brief Open Source Report for Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Our top story today remains Afghanistan. President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday following the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which he called an “extraordinary success.” Despite criticism over the Taliban takeover and chaos of evacuations, Biden defended his decision to pull out troops to end the US military’s 20-year mission in Afghanistan and not prolong the “forever war” any longer. He also said that the US would continue to work to get Americans out of the country who still want to leave.