Headlines: Joe Biden wants "to end America's longest war"

In the Kandahar base in Afghanistan, American soldiers pray before leaving for a mission on September 1, 2010. AFP / Patrick Baz

Text by: Christophe Paget Follow

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The American president therefore announced yesterday the departure of American troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

On the front page of the

New York Times

a photo that says it all: that of Joe Biden, walking this Wednesday among hundreds of white tombstones silhouetted against the green grass of Arlington cemetery.

With under the photo this quote from the American president: " 

American troops must not be used as a bargaining chip 

" between the belligerents.

But precisely, according to the

Wall Street Journal

, this plan to evacuate the troops by September 11, 2021 " 

hinders peace talks with the Taliban

 ": it " 

removes the Kabul government its main means of pressure

 ".

In addition, explains the newspaper " 

the Trump administration reached an agreement last year with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, so that they limit the actions of al-Qaeda against a promise of the Americans to leave here May 1

 ”.

Suddenly, if they believe that the Americans are withdrawing from this agreement, " 

the Taliban will absolutely not feel obliged to discuss with the Afghan government

 ", explains an analyst from the NGO International Crisis Group interviewed by the Wall Street Journal .

At the time of the withdrawal, the dailies gave voice to American veterans.

In the

Washington Post

Peter Lucier, a former soldier who is now a law student in Saint Louis, had long been in favor of the departure of the troops: “ 

I thought I would be happy.

But it doesn't sound like a victory.

It's a great feeling of emptiness

 ”.

Because, according to the

New York Times

, today that the war ends for the United States, certain questions endlessly postponed finally arise: " 

How the innumerable sacrifices and the small victories can they leave Afghanistan without a better promise of peace than a generation ago?

What does this say about the cost of the lives of the nearly 2,400 American soldiers killed?

What about the American nation as a whole?

 For Jason Dempsey, 49, deployed twice in Afghanistan, things are clear: " 

the end of the war should only give military leaders a collective feeling of guilt and introspection

 ."

Financial reparation for slavery?

Also in the United States, a committee of the American Congress examined this Wednesday on the principle of a possible financial reparation for slavery: " 

a historic vote

 ", exclaims the

New York Times

.

Yet the committee is only recommending the passage of a law which, explains the

Washington Post

, would make it possible to " 

create a commission charged with making proposals on the payment of reparations to the descendants of people reduced to slavery 

".

But " 

this bill was introduced for the first time thirty years ago, 

" recalls the newspaper, and this vote in committee, " 

it is the furthest it has ever been. 

"

More broadly,

The Hill

notes that " 

the race debate is gripping Congress

 " this week, with Democrats

also

" 

trying to pass a law to combat attacks on Asian Americans, and another to expand the right to vote, especially for blacks and other minorities

.

To explain this legislative pugnacity of the Democrats, the newspaper recalls that " 

Joe Biden and the Democrats owe a good part of their success in the presidential election to the vote of the minorities

 ".

Some Democrats point the finger at Donald Trump's record on everything relating to minorities.

Oil and State

In Mexico, the Chamber of Deputies adopted a bill by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which strengthens state control over the hydrocarbons sector.

For the text to be adopted, it must still be voted on by the Senate, but all the Mexican newspapers are already making their front page.

Because if the majority adopted the law, 292 for and 153 against, specifies

the Jornada

, the opposition, but also the heads of companies and the experts are opposed to it.

Like the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, which just minutes after the vote, reports

El Universal

, warned that this law " 

poses risks to public finances

 ", to the oil market and quite simply to families who would like to buy gasoline. gasoline: because, affirms the IMCO, " 

the state of the finances of the companies of the private sector like Pemex, to which would be transferred the production, the transformation, the transport of hydrocarbons, gives an idea of ​​their operational and administrative inefficiency

 ".

In the National Assembly, majority deputies affirmed that this reform " 

will put an end to fuel theft and corruption in the energy sector 

", notes

Excelsior

, while opposition deputies argued that this law is " 

Unconstitutional and risks the same fate as the Electricity Law: to endure legal remedies which will be heard, because this reform represents a real coup".

The Electricity Law was suspended by a judge last month, shortly after being passed.

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