As these lines are published, Kabul is back under the mantle of the Taliban. The government fell in the face of the lightning offensive of the Islamist group which in recent hours conquered Mazar-e Charif, the fourth largest Afghan city, then Jalalabad, 50 km from Kabul, the Torkham border post, on the border with Pakistan and Kabul Airport. President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan on Sunday (August 15th), effectively handing over power to the Taliban, who reached Kabul. Less vindictive than in the past, the new masters of Kabul promise not to give in to the desire for revenge.
The rout is great for the Americans and the international coalition known as the free world which, after 20 years of costly commitments, has capitulated. The final withdrawal of the forces of the international coalition announced last May gave a signal to the Taliban who have deployed their great offensive.
As in 1989 when the Red Army withdrew from Afghanistan under the blow of the Mujahedin, the US military is witnessing its military and strategic defeat. The scenario is the same since Saigon: it is necessary to evacuate the last soldiers and the natives who cooperated with the Americans. In Kabul, the Pentagon estimated Saturday at 30,000 people the number of people to be removed. Like the Americans, the British and French are busy evacuating their nationals.
Thus, the funding and training of the Afghan security forces were not enough to prevent the Taliban from regaining the power they lost twenty years ago in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. in Washington where President Joe Biden has been harsh with the Afghan army: “a year or five more years of American military presence would have made no difference, when the Afghan army cannot or does not want to defend its own country », He affirmed. The US Embassy has ordered its staff to destroy sensitive US documents and symbols that could be used by the Taliban “for propaganda purposes.”