Joe Biden's foreign policy experience was seen by many as his greatest asset when he became president.

But less than seven months after Biden took office, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.

The images of Afghans clinging to an American military plane taking off at Kabul airport went around the world;

a suicide bomber killed 13 American soldiers and at least 170 Afghans.

Sofia Dreisbach

North American political correspondent based in Washington.

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Politicians, experts and the media decided it was a catastrophe, not only in the United States.

Biden's approval ratings fell rapidly after the hasty withdrawal of American troops from Kabul.

According to a Gallup poll at the beginning of the presidency, 57 percent approved of Biden's work, after the debacle at the end of August last year it was only 43 percent and today it is only 38 percent.

After twenty years, he learned "the hard way" that there is never a good time to withdraw American troops, Biden said at the time.

However, he is “fully” behind the decision.

A year later, despite many domestic political problems, the question of how much damage the Afghan debacle did to the President still lingers.

Was that the moment when the mood changed?

"Many are still struggling with the hasty withdrawal," says Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at the renowned Brown University in Rhode Island.

"But in the end, Biden can justify him by saying: we only participate when it is of immediate interest to us - and still remain vigilant against terrorism."

Can America still take action against terrorists in Afghanistan?

Many Americans associate Afghanistan with the threat of terrorism and the attacks of September 11, 2001. It was therefore a decisive success for Biden when he publicly announced the death of the al-Qaeda chief in early August, eleven months after the last American soldier had left Afghan soil could do.

An American drone had killed Aiman ​​al-Zawahiri in a house in Kabul - according to Biden, proof that America's fight against terror is successful even without soldiers in Afghanistan.

He made this promise, Biden said in the speech, and that is exactly what has now been proven.

Critics, of course, consider the fact that al-Zawahiri was able to stay in Kabul for months under the Taliban to be proof that al-Qaeda can definitely gain a foothold in Afghanistan again.

But domestically, the 79-year-old Biden is trying to reinterpret the much-criticized withdrawal last year by hitting al-Zawahiri.

Wendy Schiller says, "As long as the government can show it cares about fighting terrorism, the Democrats as a party, and the President himself, can rid themselves of the negative headlines that are emerging from instability in Afghanistan." Country, the way the Taliban governed, how they oppressed women and girls, all of these are reasons for many Americans to reject foreign missions in general.

The issue of proportionality also looms large: According to Brown University surveys, the war in Afghanistan has cost the United States more than $2.3 trillion since 2001.

For older Americans, the images from Kabul evoked memories of the Vietnam War.

"So this generation was very reminiscent of a failed, lost war," says Wendy Schiller.

In their eyes, that's one of the main reasons why there was such an outcry, along with the 13 American soldiers killed.

It was said at the time that Biden was haphazard, the military was incapable, and America was repeating old mistakes.

Since then, Biden has made amends with his clear position on the Ukraine war - and mantra-like that the United States is under no circumstances sending soldiers to the war in Eastern Europe.

It's important for Biden to win back these generations: More than two-thirds of those voting in America are at least 65 years old.

in congressional elections,