At Thursday’s White House press briefing the topic of Afghanistan was a top question asked of Press Secretary Jen Psaki ahead of President Joe Biden‘s speech today on the U.S. withdrawal. Psaki made it clear that there will be no “mission accomplished” at the end because it’s a war that “has not been won.”

Asked by CNN’s Jeff Zeleny whether the speech would be the “final word” or if Biden intends to mark the end of “America’s longest war” in some other way, Psaki made it clear that there will be no “celebration” marking the return home.

“Today is an opportunity to communicate again why he made the decision he made, and communicate again why it’s in our interest,” said Psaki.

“In terms of plans for the end, for our men and women coming back, I don’t have anything to preview,” Psaki continued,. “We’re not going to have a ‘mission accomplished’ moment in this regard. It’s a 20-year war that has not been won militarily.”

Psaki said that the administration is grateful for the sacrifices over that period of time and that the president will make that clear in his remarks, adding that “We will continue to press for a political outcome and a political solution.”

Zeleny followed up by asking, “has this mission not been accomplished?”

“Well I would say we did exactly what we wanted to do,” said Psaki. “what I was referring to, Jeff, is we’re not having a moment of celebration.”

Watch the clip above, via NBC News.

The post Psaki Says No ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Afghanistan: ‘It’s a 20-Year War That Has Not Been Won Militarily’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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