NATO Secretary General Addresses 9/11 Memorial Museum

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg paid tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and outlined NATO's role in the fight against terrorism in a speech at the 9/11 Memorial Museum on Wednesday.

In a wide-ranging speech, Stoltenberg assessed the current challenges facing the Alliance more than 17 years into the post-9/11 fight against terrorism. Stoltenberg reflected that the days following 9/11, NATO planes helped to patrol American skies. Soon after, NATO troops were deployed to Afghanistan.

In the clip below, Stoltenberg discusses the options for continued U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan:

“There are high costs related to staying in Afghanistan. We have more than 16,000 NATO troops in a train, assist, and advise mission. It’s a high financial cost and it’s a political cost and, of course, it is a human cost. We still have some casualties. But when you compare the cost of staying with the cost of leaving, our conclusion is that the cost of leaving is higher. Because if we leave Afghanistan, I think we have to be prepared that the Taliban will come back and ISIS is in Afghanistan and they will try to reestablish the caliphate they lost in Iraq and Syria, they will reestablish in Afghanistan.”

To watch the program in full, please visit 911memorial.org/live. 

By 9/11 Memorial Staff