In the spotlight: the US withdrawal from Afghanistan under criticism from the press

Afghans at the Torrejon military base as part of the Afghan evacuation process in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, August 24, 2021 © AP Photo / Andrea Comas

Text by: Camille Marigaux

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The deadline for the withdrawal of American troops is approaching, next Tuesday the Kabul airport will have to close its doors.

Joe Biden assured him on Tuesday, during a virtual G7: evacuation operations will be completed before August 31.

Joe Biden maintains this date of August 31 for the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

And in the opinion columns, the American press is not kind to the American president.

As the White House redoubles its efforts to show the world that these evacuation operations are the subject of an unprecedented historic effort, underlines Politico, for the detractors of the Biden administration as for the most neutral observers , these " 

efforts

 " cannot meet the criticism of a botched end to the war, twenty years after its start.

Failure to anticipate, if Washington sticks to this date of August 31, then it will mean abandoning thousands of people in Afghanistan.

►

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The

Washington Post,

on the other hand, asks, " 

When, exactly, did chaos become a fait accompli in

 Joe Biden's

mind

"?

Between the intelligence agencies which would have warned him that the capture of Kabul by the Taliban was highly probable, the resignation of the high command in Afghanistan last July while the insurgents were gaining ground in the country ... For the daily newspaper, it seems that we are dealing with " 

a huge ball of incompetence stuck to the bottom of Biden's shoe

 ."

Chaos persists and hope fades for thousands of Afghans still stranded in Kabul

The press also mentions a visit by two American deputies to the Afghan capital, which did not go unnoticed. That of a Democrat and a Republican, an unexpected visit that shocks more than one within the political class. Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton and Michigan Republican Peter Meijer said in a joint statement that they traveled to Kabul " 

to oversee the executive-led evacuation mission

 ,"

CNN

reported

.

Except that this trip " 

of swashbuckling

 " as described the

Boston Globe

, conducted in secret "

 for security reasons

 " and not to " 

disturb

 " the field operations, was caught short and infuriated most senior politicians, from the House to the White House to the State Department. The newspaper reports some anonymous reactions from the top of the state: a trip " 

as stupid as selfish

 ", irresponsible, while other deputies consider the decision of their colleague " 

courageous

 ".

Consequence, this call to order of the president of the chamber Nancy Pelosi who wrote to the lawmakers to discourage them from going to Afghanistan, a trip which according to her " 

would unnecessarily divert the necessary resources 

" from the evacuation efforts.

However, she did not mention the two veterans of the Iraq War, reports The

New York Times

.

Latin America is organizing to welcome evacuated Afghans

Colombia, for example, must accommodate around 4,000. In Mexico,

five Afghan women

were received Tuesday at Mexico City airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Four of them spoke to the press.

These five women are part of a renowned international robotics team

, having won the World Robotics Championship. They also created Covid-19 patient care ventilators made from used auto parts. They say they are very happy, honored that the Mexican government has allowed them to return to the country: “

Honored that it has given them this opportunity, to fight for a better life.

You not only saved our lives, but also our dreams, the dream of continuing to do the job they love and should be fighting for when they were in Afghanistan.

 "

Their identity and the location from which they left has not been disclosed for security reasons.

The Foreign Ministry has indicated that they will be able to access a humanitarian visa for a maximum of 180 days with the right of renewal, after which they will be able to choose another status.

Supreme Court puts a stop to Biden's migration policy

“Remain in Mexico” is the name of the policy put in place under the Trump administration and which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their summons. It must be restored, for the court. As part of this program, more than 60,000 asylum seekers have been sent to wait outside the United States. The Biden administration had requested the suspension of this program, request rejected by the Court, thus dealing a blow to the administration of President Joe Biden.

A decision that could be a worrying sign for the new administration.

The court is considering a request to dissolve

the Moratorium on pandemic-related evictions

implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about which the court's more conservative judges have already expressed skepticism.

The court has often shown deference to the Trump administration in such emergency cases, including when the MPP was first implemented.

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