The rapid fall of the government in Kabul is the latest foreign policy embarrassment for the U.S., which under multiple administrations spent 20 years trying to pacify Afghanistan and build a democratic system supported by robust institutions and civil society.
Kabul fell to the Taliban on Sunday, following a lightning offensive across the country which met limited resistance. As thousands of Afghan civilians sought evacuation from Kabul airport, U.S. helicopters airlifted out American diplomats and Afghan leaders fled.
The failure of the Afghanistan project will be a stain on Biden’s legacy, as on those of the three U.S. administrations that preceded his. The U.S. and allied defeat in and flight from Afghanistan will be considered another black mark on the sprawling “War on Terror” and a resounding indictment of Western military interventionism.
Republicans—many of whom supported the rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan proposed by former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others—are leveraging American dismay against Biden, who claimed last month that there would be no quick Taliban takeover once U.S. and NATO forces left by August 31.
“When you’ve lost CNN…” the House Judiciary GOP Twitter account wrote Sunday, sharing clips of CNN contributors condemning the Biden administration’s failure in Afghanistan.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper interviewed Blinken on Sunday asking: “I think, again, the issue here is not just the withdrawal of U.S. forces, it’s how they were withdrawn…The rapidity, the hastiness…Does President Biden not bear the blame for this disastrous exit from Afghanistan?”
CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said Biden must feel “humiliated” watching footage from Kabul showing the chaotic American exit from the country, surrounded on all sides by victorious Taliban and desperate civilians. “This is Biden’s boondoggle…this is a foreign policy disaster in the making.”
“This has been a political disaster, and it’s going to be a dark satin in the annals of U.S. foreign policy,” Brinkely added.
Biden—who has been at the Camp David presidential retreat during the Taliban advance—is expected to address the nation on the Afghanistan situation in the coming days.
A statement released by the White House on Saturday expressed support for “President [Ashraf] Ghani and other Afghan leaders as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a political settlement.”
