United States (US) President Joe Biden will address the nation later on Tuesday after the military completed its evacuation and withdrawal mission from Afghanistan late yesterday, just ahead of an agreed deadline for that drawdown by today.
While the operation over the last two weeks saw more than 122 000 people evacuated, including over 5 000 Americans, tens of thousands of Afghans who worked alongside the US military and diplomatic personnel remain at risk in the country despite a blanket amnesty mooted by the Taliban, a group that has quickly filled the void left by departing US troops.
Celebratory gunfire resounded across Kabul as the Taliban took control of the city’s international airport before dawn, marking the end of a 20-year-war – the longest in American history – but that left the Taliban it sought to dismantle, firmly in charge.
“Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11th, 2001. It’s a mission that brought Osama bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his al-Qaeda co-conspirators. And it was not a cheap mission. The cost was 2 461 US service members and civilians killed and more than 20 000 who were injured. Sadly, that includes 13 US service members who were killed last week by an ISIS-K suicide bomber. We honor their sacrifice today, as we remember their heroic accomplishments,” says US Central Command General Frank McKenzie.
Some Americans are struggling to deal with the withdrawal decision:
An image from the Pentagon taken with night vision optics showed the last US soldier stepping aboard the final evacuation flight out of Kabul, shutting the door on a military operation that started in October 2001, claiming over 150 000 lives, mostly Afghans.
An unidentified Kabul resident had this to say.
“Today is the day of the departure of the Americans. After the departure of the foreigners, Afghans should start building their homeland again. They should resolve all political differences through dialogue, and take concrete steps for the construction, stability, and peace of the country, and take such measures for security that in the future the security of Afghanistan is never jeopardized.”
With tens of thousands of Afghan allies left behind and thousands more evacuated to third countries, the United States says its mission has now become a purely diplomatic one, as articulated by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals, and Afghans leave Afghanistan if they choose. We’ve gotten many out, but many are still there. We will keep working to help them. Our commitment to them has no deadline. We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan. The Taliban has committed to letting anyone with proper documents leave the country in a safe and orderly manner.”
Taliban pressed to uphold human rights
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday pressing the Taliban to uphold human rights, to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups while allowing Afghans seeking to leave, safe passage out of the country – over the abstentions of Russia and China.
“The recent chaos in Afghanistan is directly related to the hasty and disorderly withdrawal of foreign troops. We hope that relevant countries will realize the fact that withdrawal is not the end of responsibility, but the beginning of reflection and correction. Relevant countries should learn the lessons, truly respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, and genuinely respect the right of the Afghan people to determine their future. Relevant countries should effectively change their wrong practice of imposing their own wills on others and change hegemonic practice of exerting pressure, imposing sanctions, and even resorting to the use of force,” says Chinese Ambassador Geng Shuang.
Biden thanks the military
A statement from President Biden thanked his military commanders and the women and men serving under them for the execution of the withdrawal. But he still finds himself in a tough spot given the chaos that ensued in Afghanistan over the last two weeks, with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, labeling the withdrawal incompetent while calling for US weaponry left behind in Afghanistan to be either retrieved or bombed. As the military mission ends, many loose ends remain, and an administration that must still fully account for why things went so horribly wrong.
