The Taliban’s conquest in Afghanistan is virtually complete. President Ashraf Gani fled the country on Sunday. He joined thousands of his fellow citizens in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the United States and its allies invested a great deal in the Afghan military and did not expect it to fold so quickly.
BLINKEN: That force proved incapable of defending the country, and that did happen more rapidly than we anticipated.
Some experts say when U.S. troops departed, morale within the Afghan military plummeted, leading to mass defections. The Taliban fanned out across the capital on Sunday. And an official with the militant group said it would soon announce the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace in Kabul. That was the name of the country under Taliban rule before U.S.-led forces ousted them after the 9/11 attacks. Republicans on Capitol Hill are calling President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan a tragic mistake. Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney stated:
“We’ve now created a situation where, as we get to the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we are surrendering Afghanistan to the terrorist organization that housed al Qaeda when they plotted and planned the attacks against us”
President Biden has maintained that it was the right decision and he does not regret the move. The capital city of Kabul was gripped by panic on Sunday, with helicopters racing overhead, evacuating personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke billowed into the clouds above the compound as staff destroyed important documents, and officials lowered the American flag.
By AlizeLaVie 08/16/2021
Source News Agency
