Today is the International Day of Action on Afghanistan. This day is to remind everyone that May 1, 2021 is the deadline for the United States to pull troops out of Afghanistan, per the U.S.-Taliban agreement, also known as the Doha agreement. Will the Biden-Harris administration abide by the terms of this agreement brokered in 2020? We are here to demand the United States end all involvement and pull its troops so the Afghan people can determine their collective fate.

When U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan nearly two decades ago, he said, “The oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies.”

Since then, more than 50,000 bombs have been dropped on this country of just 38 million people. More than 100,000 Afghans have died, millions more have been injured, many permanently disabled. At least 26,000 children are dead or maimed.

Is this American generosity?

Every president since Bush has promised peace, yet they have continued to drop thousands of bombs, deploy more troops and kill more Afghan men, women and children. Thousands of U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and six U.S. bases occupy the Afghan people’s land.

When has the United States ever been truly generous to oppressed people anywhere in the world or even here in our own country? When it deprives people of food and medicines through sanctions? When it overturns governments? When it turns the full forces of military and police power upon them?

U.S. President Joe Biden promised an end to the “forever wars” during his campaign. The peace deal signed by the Trump Administration with the Taliban calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, was an important first step — though one can certainly be skeptical of the sincerity of this deal, based on the track record of every past administration for decades. We in the United States need to demand Biden and the current administration hold to this agreement and take this first step.

We need to demand an end to the U.S. government’s wars on oppressed people in Afghanistan and around the world. Our further involvement brings nothing but death (of both Afghan civilians and American military personnel), destruction and instability, both within Afghanistan and in the region more broadly. It’s time to take a stand and ensure that the U.S. abides by the deal it has signed and finally takes a step towards peace.

The fate of Afghanistan and the health and safety of our military members — who have been caught up in this “forever war” because of decisions made by individuals in the government who have no personal stakes in the foreign venture beyond financial — are not sealed until we finally pull out of Afghanistan and allow the Afghan people to take control of their own fate.