The Taliban's lightning victory * raised the tide against the US president in Europe and America.
Biden is being attacked almost like Trump in his day.
But President Biden holds on and does not give up his positions.
He insists on a complete and timely withdrawal of troops by the end of August, as the Taliban demand.
People who were initially opposed to the withdrawal of American troops, but did not dare to speak out publicly in defense of the unpopular and prolonged war, now raised their heads. For example, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who at one time embroiled the United Kingdom in the shameful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, found his voice again. The tragic, dangerous and unnecessary withdrawal was done to please the imbecilic slogan "Stop endless wars," he said. Blair wants to continue the war. And not to him alone. In Britain, both ruling conservatives and opposition Labor condemn Biden.
In the United States, the neocons - the neoconservatives - have risen to Biden, a very influential ideologically engaged group called the "Trotskyists of imperialism" or the "Israeli lobby." They held their positions in the country's leadership under all presidents and were going to rule under Biden. Neocons always want war, especially in the Middle East. Bret Stevens, a leading neocon, former editor-in-chief of the Israeli Jerusalem Post, and now a columnist for The New York Times, expressed a lack of understanding why it was necessary to leave Afghanistan. He wrote something like the following: “They say, they say, you can't stay there forever, it costs money. And I say: the United States has been keeping troops in South Korea for much longer, and it costs much more than Afghanistan, but it’s good for the world. ”
The unpleasant pictures of the evacuation from the Kabul airport (and evacuation is never pleasant) allowed those who were against the withdrawal of troops to argue that they were not against the withdrawal, but against a hasty evacuation.
Friends and allies of the neocons in NATO countries and in Washington have agreed to cancel the withdrawal and return the soldiers to Afghanistan due to the fact that the evacuation is not going as smoothly as we would like.
At worst, delay the final withdrawal until everyone has evacuated.
Another month, another year or ten years - as long as it takes!
But Biden said no.
There will be no delay.
By the end of August, as expected, all Americans will leave.
Who did not have time, he was late.
If the British want to continue the Afghan war - you are always welcome!
Only without the USA.
The evacuation was too long;
from Afghanistan want to evacuate 60 thousand Afghans.
They have nowhere to escape: England agrees to take 5 thousand refugees, mainly its local translators and employees with their families, other countries are not much more.
Flight is turning into a big problem for the country.
If all the doctors and all the engineers leave, how will an independent Afghanistan exist?
The Taliban are trying to halt the mass stampede.
Algeria faced such a problem at one time (in 1962), when more than 1 million people - professionals in all fields - succumbed to panic and fled to France.
Algeria was left without doctors, teachers, and specialists for many years.
And the flight of educated Russian people in 1920 from the Crimea delayed the restoration of the national economy of Russia for a long time, although it strengthened the taxi companies in France.
Biden's decision, unexpected and abrupt, gives hope that this chapter in the book of war will be completed in August. President Putin before us, even at a meeting in Geneva, realized that Biden was not at all the old man - the dandelion of God as he was presented. This is a very intelligent and decisive statesman, although he does not sympathize with Russia. At a press conference (with German Chancellor Angela Merkel), President Putin rightly said that now is not the time to criticize Biden. “It is not in our interests to dwell on this place now and talk about it as some kind of failure,” he said.
Forces trying to thwart the withdrawal of troops and prolong the Afghan war are also betting on the Panjshir resistance. Panjshir is an isolated mountain gorge that has yet to be taken over by the Taliban. They have about 10 thousand fighters, and the Taliban could wipe them off the face of the earth, but they want to win peacefully. At the head of the Panjshir resistance is Ahmad Masud Jr., the son of the legendary Tajik-Afghan leader and field commander Lev Panjshir - Ahmad Shah Massoud. Only Masood Jr. is made from a completely different dough. He studied in England and spent a lot of time in France. In December, the famous international adventurer-provocateur Bernard-Henri Levy flew to him from Paris, who appeared on the Kiev "Maidan", and in the rebellion against Gaddafi, and among the Islamists of Syria. Massoud Jr. appeals for help from England, France and, of course, the United States.Several ministers of the fallen government also joined him. However, they are unlikely to be supported against the will of the Afghans and against the aspirations of Afghanistan's neighbors.
Russia stands for an inclusive coalition government in Afghanistan that would include representatives of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and other nationalities.
Therefore, the call for Panjshir to enter into political negotiations and come to an agreement as soon as possible is also supported.
Russia justifiably fears that adventurers in NATO countries and the United States will begin to support Panjshir and that civil war will break out again in long-suffering Afghanistan.
President Putin called on foreign powers not to interfere in Afghan internal affairs and to let the Afghans figure it out for themselves.
This appears to be the correct setting.
Indeed, the first decade of the Taliban's return passed relatively peacefully and calmly both in Kabul and on the ground.
Therefore, one can hope that intra-Afghan reconciliation will take place and the time will come for peaceful construction.
* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.