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by Paolo Cappelli
24 August 2021A week to withdraw the troops.
Can the president of the United States accept that others decide, the Taliban?
Or should he go back on that date of August 31, accepting that the allies ultimately decide?
There don't seem to be any good options on Joe Biden's table within hours of the G7 to end the Afghanistan chapter in an acceptable way.
Security acceptable, military;
of the humanitarian emergency.
But also politically acceptable, to contain the damage of a bitter and chaotic withdrawal
The fiasco in Kabul damages Biden
"I want to talk about happy things, man." This is how Joe Biden responded in July to a reporter who had pressed the president with questions about Afghanistan and a possible fall in Kabul. For more than a week, since the triumph of the Taliban, the skeptical president of the longest American war in history has been forced to talk almost exclusively about the Afghan disaster. The most seasoned US president since Richard Nixon, an established foreign policy politician does anything but a good figure: he stutters, shows little empathy, blames Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan, the Afghan army. Now the polls increase the pressure on the White House trying to save what can be saved.
Financial Times
Biden close between allies and Taliban on the expiration of the evacuation
Joe Biden today faces pressure from Western allies who want the US-led evacuation from Afghanistan to be extended beyond August 31, as he faces the humiliating prospect that the Taliban could veto the idea. In the emergency meeting of the G7, the president of the United States will listen to calls from allies, including Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to negotiate with the Taliban for an extension. But the move exposes the fragility of the West's position in Afghanistan. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban, told the Financial Times that US troops and other foreign troops at the Kabul airport must withdraw in line with the schedule set by the Biden administration. "Otherwise,it will be a violation, "he said." Our leaders will decide how to react to the violation. "James Heappey, British defense minister, admitted that the Taliban have a say in allowing evacuation from Kabul airport until September. "Even if the political will in London, Washington, Paris, Berlin is for an extension, the Taliban may say no," he told British radio LBC. Biden is sticking to the original August 31 deadline for now - thus avoiding the potential humiliation of a Taliban "veto" on an extension - but left the door open to ask for more time.he admitted that the Taliban have a say in allowing evacuation from Kabul airport until September. "Even if the political will in London, Washington, Paris, Berlin is for an extension, the Taliban may say no," he told British radio LBC. Biden is sticking to the original August 31 deadline for now - thus avoiding the potential humiliation of a Taliban "veto" on an extension - but has left the door open to ask for more time.he admitted that the Taliban have a say in allowing evacuation from Kabul airport until September. "Even if the political will in London, Washington, Paris, Berlin is for an extension, the Taliban may say no," he told British radio LBC. Biden is sticking to the original August 31 deadline for now - thus avoiding the potential humiliation of a Taliban "veto" on an extension - but has left the door open to ask for more time.Biden is sticking to the original August 31 deadline for now - thus avoiding the potential humiliation of a Taliban "veto" on an extension - but has left the door open to ask for more time.Biden is sticking to the original August 31 deadline for now - thus avoiding the potential humiliation of a Taliban "veto" on an extension - but has left the door open to ask for more time.
Metro
Seven days to go, Joe
The red line of the Taliban, demanding that the timetable for the withdrawal of US troops does not change.
The ultimatum comes a few hours after the extraordinary G7 meeting.
The Guardian
Race to complete the evacuation from Kabul amid threats from the Taliban
G7 leaders will be under pressure to present a united front at the emergency summit on the Afghan crisis today, despite divisions over the deadline to complete the evacuations from the country by 31 August. The talks take place amidst desperate scenes in Kabul, where the airlift continues. Many US allies are still unhappy with Washington's approach after the fall of Kabul on August 15. Communication between the White House and Downing Street during the crisis appeared poor, with British ministers and officials repeatedly complaining that the Biden administration has not been clear with allies for how long it intends to keep its military on the ground. and allow the evacuation to continue. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Tony Blinkenhe acknowledged that it was a "highly emotional moment for many allies and partners". Officials in Washington confirmed that the UK has called for an extension of the deadline for the evacuation of Kabul and that the US has resisted.
Johnson said in remarks before the meeting that his "first priority is to complete the evacuation of our citizens and those Afghans who have witnessed our efforts for the past 20 years." But he also said that the G7 must "look forward to the next phase", when it would be "essential to come together as an international community and agree on a common approach".
Any decision by sovereign states to recognize the Taliban is a political act that will have important consequences, including allowing the Taliban to access the foreign aid on which previous Afghan governments relied. A 2020 deal signed by the former Trump administration explicitly stated that the group "is not recognized by the United States as a state." The instrument of recognition is "one of the most important leverage remaining," said Annie Pforzheimer, a retired US diplomat who served as deputy head of mission at the US Embassy in Kabul from 2017 to 2018.
The
US and UK on a collision course with the Taliban
Britain does not want to set a date for the last RAF flight from Kabul and will try to negotiate with the Taliban to avoid a direct confrontation. Boris Johnson Increases Pressure on Joe Biden to Extend Aug. 31 Deadline for Full
WSJ
Troop Withdrawal
The Taliban Red Line Aug. 31
One of the mysteries of the past 10 days is President Biden's reluctance to say a disheartening word about the Taliban. It was much tougher on our Afghan allies than on the jihadists who conquered the country and humiliated the United States. The reason is almost certainly that Mr. Biden feels he needs the cooperation of the Taliban to save the Americans in Kabul. If that wasn't clear enough, a Taliban spokesman said yesterday that the US president had better not extend the deadline to get all US troops out of the country by August 31. This is an incredible position for a US commander-in-chief, who is ordered by the Taliban to leave the country by a certain date.even if it means leaving American citizens and Afghan allies behind. Biden has put himself - and his country - in this position by limiting the deployment of US forces in number and location at the Kabul airport. The airport is vulnerable to attacks by the Taliban or Islamic State terrorists, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted Sunday.
Bild
The Taliban threaten us with war in Kabul
German soldiers involved in a fire fight near the airport
FAZ
The Taliban opposed to the extension of the airlift from Kabul
The first major crisis by Biden
Klaus Dieter Frankenberger:
It was predictable and inevitable that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its immediate aftermath would be transformed by the wolf of American domestic politics. The images of Kabul airport could not have been more dramatic for President Biden's opponents, they provide material for their rhetoric of a weak and incompetent president. The predecessor Trump, known for having signed an agreement with the Taliban, had laid the foundations of chaos but it is Biden, now the commander-in-chief and it is he who accuses the greatest humiliation in his country's foreign policy. The events in Afghanistan are beginning to have an effect on the Americans themselves, who in themselves approve of the withdrawal. Democrats are concerned about next year's congressional elections.Yet those images of chaos in Kabul hurt the president at home, but they don't change the Biden doctrine. State building in Afghanistan is the past.
The Independent
Inside the escape from Kabul. Report by war correspondent Kim Sengupta who met some of the desperate people carried away from Kabul by RAF airplanes
British officials also said that the British ambassador to Afghanistan, who is currently serving from a hotel near the airport, told lawmakers in a phone call that the Taliban had been clear about ending the evacuations within days. "So I think it follows that if the United States and its allies try to go further, then there is at least a risk that we will do it in a much more difficult and less compliant environment." Meanwhile, the US military reported its biggest day of evacuation flights from Afghanistan on Monday, with 28 military flights rescuing some 10,400 people in the past 24 hours. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said the faster pace of theevacuation is due in part to coordination with Taliban commanders to bring the evacuees to the airport.
Kansas City Star
I have served in Afghanistan as a United States Marine twice. Here's the truth in two sentences, by Lucas Kunce
Uno: For 20 years, DC politicians, elites and military leaders have lied to us about Afghanistan.
Two: What happened last week was inevitable and anyone who says otherwise is still lying to you.
I know because I was there. Twice. In special operations task forces. I learned Pashto as a captain in the United States Marine and talked to everyone I could there: ordinary people, elites, allies and yes, even the Taliban. The truth is that the Afghan National Security Forces was a work program for Afghans, backed by US taxpayer dollars - a military work program populated by non-military people or "on paper" forces (which didn't really exist) and a bevy of elites who grabbed what they could when they could.
And not just in Afghanistan. They also lied about Iraq.
I led a team of marines who trained Iraqi security forces to defend their country. When I arrived I received a graph with a "traffic light" on their alleged operational capabilities. Green meant they were good. The yellow that had to be improved; the red that they could not take on that task. I was happy to see where they were on paper, until I started working with them. I attempted to calibrate the graphs to reflect reality and was quickly stuck. Ratings could not go down. That was the deal. It was the kind of lie that kept the war going. So when people ask me if we made the right choice by exiting Afghanistan in 2021, I honestly answer: absolutely not. The right decision was in 2002 or 2003.Every year we didn't go out was another year in which the Taliban honed their skills and tactics against us, the best fighting force in the world. After two decades, $ 2 trillion and nearly 2,500 American lives lost, 2021 is too late to make the right choice.
New Yorker
Christoph Niemann's exit strategy
New York Times
Michelle Goldberg: The war in Afghanistan was lost before Biden ended it
There are two main criticisms of Biden's Afghan policy. The first, valid, accuses the administration of not having eliminated the bureaucratic obstacles that have kept Afghan allies waiting for visas, perhaps blocking tens of thousands of people who deserve to be evacuated. The second, absurd, blames Biden for the defeat in a war lost years ago. The argument for "patience" or "more time" assumes that the US presence in Afghanistan was doing more good than harm. For some Afghans, particularly in the capital, this was undoubtedly true. Maintaining a contingent of American troops in Afghanistan could have protected those most affected by the theocratic barbarism of the Taliban. But for America to stay in Afghanistan, Biden would have to renounce theTrump's deal with the Taliban. More troops and more fighting, including American air strikes, would have been needed. That is, more suffering and more death for many Afghan civilians.
Washinton Post
Edito: The US is making progress on evacuations, but this mission is far from over
It is crucial militarily, politically and morally that Biden does not withdraw US troops before their work is done. There are three solutions: first, to have the evacuation accelerate so that everyone Biden has promised to get out will be flown by August 31; this is both the ideal and the least likely outcome. Second, the United States negotiates with the Taliban for longer, turning the evacuation into something like a hostage negotiation. Third, the US keeps troops in Afghanistan regardless of what the Taliban wants, until legitimate US and allied evacuation goals are achieved. This, of course, carries the greatest risk of all:rekindling the same war that Biden seeks to end.
CNN
Chris Cillizza: Here is Joe Biden's Big Bet on Afghanistan
Most polls conducted before mid-August showed support for withdrawal from Afghanistan by more than 30 points. Now, in the wake of horrifying images of Kabul airport, six out of 10 Americans disapprove of Biden's handling of the Afghan crisis.But in the face of these declining poll numbers - and strong criticism not only from Republicans but also from fellow Democrats - Biden and his inner circle didn't move an inch.
Kevin Collins, a Democratic strategist, described Biden's political calculation bluntly in a series of tweets.
"For better or (probably) for worse, the American people don't really care about foreign policy unless there is a highly publicized case of Americans in danger. Afghanistan. Biden's approval - and the Democrats' chances in 2022 - hinges on pandemic and economic issues. Biden's bet is that while Afghanistan is in first place for most voters right now, it will vanish as well. priorities as is often the case in foreign policy when it will no longer be the main news on the daily news. That if Americans get out safely, the public will lose interest in what is happening in a distant country and return to domestic issues such as the state ofeconomy and the ongoing battle against Covid-19.