Herat, Kandahar - and when is Kabul?

The Taliban are rushing from victory to victory in Afghanistan, from conquered city to conquered city.

It is only a matter of time when they will advance to the capital.

The Biden government now seems to assume that the radical Islamists will no longer take control of Kabul in a few months, but in a few weeks.

This is the only way to understand the decision to move several thousand soldiers to the capital's airport in order to secure the departure of American citizens and diplomats (not to assist the government).

The decision speaks of panic, events precipitate.

With a few exceptions, the Afghan army, in whose training and equipment the West has invested heavily, cannot offer any resistance.

The soldiers withdraw or flee.

Afghans abandoned

President Biden had envisaged this very differently when he announced the end of the United States' military engagement, which his predecessor had already propagated: It was the right and the responsibility of the Afghans to decide for themselves about their future. The Taliban accepted these words as an invitation to pursue a two-pronged approach: negotiating for sham in Doha, creating military facts in the country. The withdrawal of the armed forces of America and the other NATO countries has cleared the ground for those who seek decision on the battlefield. But the Afghans who took part in the modernization of the country feel abandoned. Can you blame them for that?

No, the soldiers from the West could not and should not stay “forever” in the Hindu Kush. But the hasty withdrawal, the consequences of which are increasingly reminiscent of the bitter end of the inglorious Vietnam War, was wrong; simply because he is playing into the cards of an opponent who had already regained strength but had not gained the upper hand. The Taliban have it now. What a turn in history it would be if the Taliban flag waved over Kabul on the anniversary of “9/11”.