The blasts outside the Kabul airport and the tragic killing of Afghans and Americans has further exposed shortfalls and loopholes in President Biden’s Afghan policy.
Looking at Biden’s decision of sudden pullout of American forces from Afghanistan and the subsequent airlifting of American and Afghan nationals it seems the Biden administration is acting in a reverse mode in Afghanistan.
Thus the troop pullout which should have happened after the safe passage of all foreign nationals has happened before any of the civilians could leave Afghanistan leaving the latter thoroughly exposed to the Taliban and its splinter groups like the ISIS K, Al-Qaeda and others.
With all the intelligence inputs at its disposal how could the Biden administration leave all the Americans and other foreign nationals at the mercy of the Taliban and other Jihadi groups operating in the area.
Sanity demanded that before the troop pullout all civilian evacuations should have taken place under the watchful eyes of the US and NATO troops in Kabul. Thus the US troops could have manned the roads leading to the airport as also the entry points to the airport.
With the American troops on the ground manning all checkpoints the Taliban would have been kept at bay for a few days till the whole evacuation was complete. In this manner the American troops would have been the last people to leave Afghanistan thereby ensuring minimum or no casualties.
Heavens would not have fallen if the American and allied forces had extended their stay in Afghanistan by 2 weeks ensuring a safe passage for all. But President Biden chose to act hastily and unilaterally and now we have carnage on our hands.
Biden’s goof up in Afghanistan has not only resulted in loss of human lives but also a human right crisis with babies being tossed up across barbed wire fences and petrified Afghans making a beeline for the airport only to be engulfed by human bombs and suicide bombers.
Biden set out to minimize US casualties on the ground when he decided on an abrupt troop pullout but he has achieved exactly the opposite with 13 young US service officers laying down their lives in the twin suicide attacks and unfortunately their could be more with reports of another blast in Kabul.
Afghanistan has plunged into utter chaos and darkness and the whole world is just a spectator to the human tragedy that is unfolding on the streets of Kabul. The UN and the UNHRC who are so vociferous and clamourous on Kashmir have just muted themselves or are just paying lip service to the catastrophy in Afghanistan just because America is responsible for the unfolding crisis.
In fact, two successive US President’s have ensured the legitimizing of a terrorist outfit like Taliban and pulled the earth from under the feet of the Afghan people plunging them into a deep gorge. Trump brought the Taliban on the table in Doha thereby weakening the Afghan government who were not a party to the talks.
Thus, the seeds of the current crisis were sown by Trump and Biden ensured an early harvest of death and turmoil in Afghanistan by an abrupt pullout of US and allied troops giving little or no thought to subsequent fallout.
Now the Biden administration can only indulge in face saving drone attacks on the splinter terrorist groups like the ISIS K who are allied to the Taliban and proliferating in adjoining Pakistan.
The Afghan story has gone out of hand for the US and it has got a bloody nose like Vietnam apart from the loss of credibility vis a vis its allies. America remained in Afghanistan for 2 decades only to leave it in shambles.
Its other allies like Taiwan and Japan must be getting the jitters looking at the way the US has acted in Afghanistan at the behest of the domestic audience. They must be thinking that the US could do the same with them leaving them at the mercy of the Dragon.
This haphazard withdrawal by the US has surely dented its superpower image and China and Russia would waste no time in rubbing it in.
Did you find this article useful? We’re a non-profit. Make a donation and help pay for our journalism.
HinduPost is now on Telegram. For the best reports & opinion on issues concerning Hindu society, subscribe to HinduPost on Telegram.
