The end of the mission in Afghanistan, with the death, Thursday, August 26, of 13 American soldiers, turns into a catastrophic scenario for Joe Biden, faced with his most serious crisis and as if paralyzed by a situation he had not seen coming .

"Difficult day": presenting himself to the cameras on Thursday, several hours after a double suicide bombing near Kabul airport, the 46th President of the United States does not hide his emotion.

With tears on the edge of his eyes, he pays homage to these "heroes" who fell in the most deadly attack for the American military since August 2011. The martial tone, as if to silence accusations of weakness, he then launches at its authors : "We will chase you and we will make you pay."

But, as he was also increasingly criticized for running away from questions from the press, he couldn't help but express his annoyance, eyes closed and head bowed, as he listened to a reporter on the conservative Fox News channel. questioning about their own "responsibilities".

"Major crisis"

"It is a major crisis that is unfolding under his presidency," Ian Bremmer, president of the expertise company Eurasia Group, told AFP.

"It's an intelligence failure, it's a planning failure, it's a communication failure, and it's a coordination failure with the allies," he said.

By his own admission, the president did not "foresee" the speed of the collapse of the Afghan army formed, equipped and financed by Washington, and the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban.

And as was the case with the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas in May, his government appears to be struggling to adapt to the unforeseen on the international stage.

There have been moments of hesitation since the Taliban's victory on August 15, which surprised Joe Biden at Camp David, a vacation spot for US presidents.

First silent, the 78-year-old Democrat has since increased the number of speeches, without stopping the criticisms.

His intervention was delayed by about five hours on Tuesday as the world waited to see whether he would give in to international calls for a postponement of the August 31 deadline for the US withdrawal - and therefore for evacuations. foreigners and Afghans threatened with reprisals by the Taliban.

He finally confirmed the deadline.

The shadow of Benghazi

Joe Biden, elected by posting a unifying profile, confirmed the decision of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan.

But he is now criticized from all sides for the management of this withdrawal, and for not having organized the necessary evacuations earlier, forcing the American army to send back forces in disaster to manage a gigantic airlift in a mess. , bereaved Thursday by the attack of the jihadist group Islamic State.

"This tragedy should never have taken place," lamented Thursday Donald Trump, who called for his resignation last week.

"Joe Biden has blood on his hands," added Republican MP Elise Stefanik.

"He is unfit to be commander-in-chief," she hammered.

Many observers draw a parallel with the attack on Benghazi, which claimed the life of the American ambassador to Libya in 2012 and poisoned the administration of Barack Obama.

"I don't know if Biden will be permanently weakened" by the Afghan crisis, Mark Rom, professor of political science, told AFP.

"But Republicans are going to do anything to make it happen."

Bet

This shower of criticism blurs the communication of the White House, eager to focus on the progress of the president's gigantic economic plans - supposed to allow the United States to "win" the competition with China, the only real priority of its foreign policy.

Above all, his popularity has collapsed for ten days in the polls, even though a large majority of Americans, weary of America's "endless wars", agree with him that the United States should leave the United States. Afghanistan.

For Charles Franklin, director of the polling institute at Marquette Law School, "the political question, once we have completed the withdrawal, is whether the majority will be satisfied that we are gone."

"If so, then the controversy might fade away."

Joe Biden seems to be making this bet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it was time to end twenty years of war," he reiterated Thursday, concluding his press conference.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR