The undignified departure of the international community from Afghanistan continued in earnest on Tuesday morning. The Taliban occupied the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday after president Ashraf Ghani left the country abruptly leaving both his Afghan supporters and international partners stunned.
US president Joe Biden in an address to the nation on Monday morning defended his decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan saying that the original mission they had went in there for had been achieved.
"I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces."
Biden admitted that his administration was taken by surprise at the speed of the Taliban advance in the last days:
"I always promised the American people that I will be straight with you. The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what's happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight."
Biden tried, even if feebly to make a gesture of ongoing interest in Afghanistan
"Now we are focused on what is possible. We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence, and humanitarian aid ... We will continue to speak out for the basic rights of Afghan people, for women and girls – just as we speak out all over the world.”
commonspace.eu political editor said that "this has been a dramatic end to American's twenty year old war in Afghanistan. That was itself the result of the even more dramatic events of 9/11 and al-Qaeda's brazen attack on US territory. Al Qaeda at the time operated from Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban regime of the time. The US mobilised a global coalition to go into Afghanistan and dismantle the Taliban and al-Qaeda networks. At the time it looked like complete victory, but quickly the Taliban regrouped, and now they have been able to fight their way back to Kabul. Once the Americans announced they were leaving, the Afghan army disintegrated at a speed not thought to be possible, its hundreds of thousands of troops making their way back to their villages, waiting for another day.
During the cold war, the slogan Yankee Go Home was often seen or heard in many third world countries fighting against US domination. It is ironic that fifty years later, there are those in Kabul who are now shouting Yankee come back! For many young Afghans the US presence had opened the possibility of a new way of life. At least in Kabul many are sad to see the Americans go. But as president Biden made it clear yesterday, there is no going back. American attempts at state-building in Afghanistan are over, and that has widespread consequences that are yet to fully unfold."
