At the beginning of the year, President Joe Biden said he would withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, putting an end to America’s longest war. The decision came as a consequence of the deal that President Donald Trump had previously made with the Taliban leadership. According to his own statements, Biden was given a choice: complete withdrawal in 2021 or risk an escalation of the war in the near future. He decided to end the two-decade-long conflict in a manner that would leave the world wondering if that was indeed the right choice.
As the US was rushing to get people out from the country ahead of the new August 31 deadline, the Taliban forces engaged in a new war of their own. By August 15, not only had President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan, but the Taliban had also occupied Kabul without facing much resistance from government forces. With the group in control of most of Afghanistan, many of those who had previously worked with the US or other allied forces started to fear for their lives. Crowds started to gather at the Kabul airport, as people were hoping for evacuation.
Not everyone, however, would be lucky enough to leave Afghanistan’s capital. On August 26, a bomb attack by the Islamic State took the lives of more than 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US soldiers near the airport. As time goes on, new threats continue to appear in the area.
The Consequences of the Kabul Attack
Following the terror attack, President Joe Biden spoke briefly at the White House on August 26. He told the country that the 13 US service members who were killed on the same day are “heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.” He also mentioned the fact that all fallen soldiers were involved in an evacuation mission like no other, a mission that saved the lives of more than 100,000 American citizens, partners, and Afghan allies. However, when asked if he was prepared to send additional forces to protect Americans still in Afghanistan, the President said he would approve new forces if needed, but also suggested that this was an unlikely scenario.
While President Biden vowed to hunt down those responsible for the attack and make them pay, others seemed to question the way the withdrawal was planned and executed from the very beginning. Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was among the first to voice concern. While recognizing that President Biden faced a difficult decision, Tony Blair remarked that he had also dealt with similar issues, given that he was Britain’s leader at the time when it joined forces with the US to remove the Taliban from power. The former PM added that the US pullout was carried out in accordance “to an imbecilic political slogan about ending the forever wars,” and that the West should not abandon the people of Afghanistan.
Who and What Is Left Behind?
While many Americans, foreign partners, and allies have already been evacuated, crowds continue to gather at Kabul airport. People there seem to make one last attempt to flee Afghanistan, with the US troops and allies now close to ending the evacuation. Many Afghans are bound to remain behind, uncertain of what the future will bring, afraid for their lives and their families, especially if they worked for or collaborated with Western entities. With journalists in the area being killed or hunted by Taliban forces and some schools already closing, many people fear their rights are now in danger.
Female students in particular fear they may lose their right to education, while many Afghan women and girls dread the return of a repressive regime that might even force them to marry terrorists. As Afghan women seem to be already fading from public view, some voices still make themselves heard in the West. Among them is a young female student that managed to talk about her concerns, saying that fear has taken over her whole being, and, as time passes, she can feel all hopes fading away. “Hey world, do you care what happens here? Do we matter to you? Do you see us,” she asks.
After the Final Evacuations
No one seems to know what will happen in Afghanistan after the final evacuation, but the Taliban forces are not the only concern. With the Islamic State blamed for some of the worst atrocities in recent years, including the Kabul attack, and a Taliban regime that might decide to forget all promises made, the future seems bleak. However, while President Joe Biden made it clear that he doesn’t believe that American lives should be sacrificed to bring a democratic government in Afghanistan, Tony Blair, among others, remarked Western values are still something to be proud of and to defend.
