America’s longest war comes to an end as calls mount for Biden impeachment after US citizens left behind
AMERICA'S longest war came to an end late on Monday amid calls to impeach Joe Biden after a number of US citizens were left behind.
Officials had been forced to admit some Americans were still in the country after the last plane left just before midnight local time.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would work with Afghanistan's neighbors to secure their departure either over land or by charter flight once the Kabul airport re-opens.
But the speed with which the Taliban captured Kabul caught the Biden administration by surprise and the president faces condemnation at home and abroad for his handling of an evacuation that unfolded in chaos.
AMERICANS 'ABANDONED'
Heartbreaking scenes at the airport saw Afghans attempting to cling to a C-17 transport plane as it sped down the runway.
A suicide bombing on August 26 then killed 13 American service members and some 169 Afghans.
House Republicans tweeted on Monday: "Today, @POTUS abandoned hundreds of Americans behind enemy lines. Let that sink in."
Biden released a statement on Monday evening applauding US service members for facilitating the mass evacuation.
"The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States," he said.
"They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended."
WAR ON TERROR
Biden went on to say he will address the American public to discuss why he did not extend US presence in Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon.
The initial plan in Afghanistan had been to extinguish Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, which had used Afghanistan as a staging base for its 9/11 attack on the United States.
The grander ambition was to fight a “Global War on Terrorism” based on the belief that military force could somehow defeat Islamic extremism.
George W Bush chose to make Iraq the next, invading in 2003.
Barack Obama pushed US troop levels to 100,000, but the war dragged on even though bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011.
Donald Trump had wanted to withdraw but was persuaded not only to stay but to add several thousand US troops and escalate attacks on the Taliban.
His administration later signed an agreement that called for a complete US withdrawal by May 2021. In exchange, the Taliban made a number of promises including a pledge not to attack US troops.
Biden weighed advice from members of his national security team who argued for retaining the 2,500 troops who were in Afghanistan by the time he took office in January.
But in mid-April, he announced his decision to fully withdraw.
AFGHAN ARMY COLLAPSE
The Taliban pushed an offensive that by early August toppled key cities, including provincial capitals.
The Afghan army largely collapsed, sometimes surrendering rather than taking a final stand, and shortly after President Ashraf Ghani fled the capital, the Taliban rolled into Kabul and assumed control on August 15.
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After 20 years and four presidents, some parts of the country modernized and life for many Afghans, especially women and girls, improved.
But Afghanistan remains unstable and with many of its people fearing a return to the brutality the country endured when the Taliban ruled from 1996 to 2001.