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Afghanistan: A year after the American withdrawal, Biden and the US have turned the page

Despite the fierce criticism he received for the fiasco of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan a year ago, American President Joe Biden seems to have turned the page.

Biden in his announcement commemorates the one-year anniversary of the complete withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, but also the death on August 26, 2021, of 13 American soldiers who lost their lives in the bombing of the Kabul airport.

However, his government maintains a discreet attitude regarding this anniversary.

In a message to the armed forces, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin paid tribute to the 2,461 Americans killed on the front and hailed US efforts “to build a better future for the Afghan people”.

Biden has criticized the war in Afghanistan for years because he believed America had nothing to gain from it. And as Kabul fell and the Afghan government collapsed last August, the American president refused to budge.

A year later, the events seem to vindicate him, at least politically.

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Afghanistan is no longer among the priorities of the current US administration and its foreign policy, which has been reversed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 50% of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan was a mistake. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, almost all Americans justified their country’s invasion of Afghanistan.

“It’s easy to criticize the withdrawal decision without presenting bona fide viable alternatives,” said Adam Weinstein of The Quincy Institute think tank.

Americans are “concerned about inflation, student loans and the division of the country. They are certainly not thinking about the anniversary of the withdrawal, when for many of them the war was a distant thing,” he added.

The chaotic images of the American withdrawal from the Kabul airport had shocked public opinion and contributed to a large decline in the popularity of President Biden.

However, the war in Afghanistan, which occupied four American presidents, was not the only cause, as the covid-19 pandemic was spreading at the same time. A year later, Biden’s approval rating is up slightly, largely thanks to a string of legislative victories.

The Democratic president has also demonstrated that the US has the ability to continue the war on terror without troops on the ground, such as when he ordered the drone strike that killed al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri on July 31. in Kabul.

But the return of the Taliban to power looks like a crushing defeat for all those who fought for another Afghanistan, one that would above all respect the rights of girls and women.

For Teresa Kasal, head of Mina’s List, the US should have asked for guarantees before withdrawing from Afghanistan. “Without this we can say unequivocally that the withdrawal was a disaster, I would even say a betrayal,” he stressed.

“Afghanistan has become the worst place in the world for women when just a year ago 27% of parliamentarians were women,” she underlined, denouncing both the previous administration of Donald Trump, which negotiated the withdrawal of US troops with the Taliban, as well as and the decision of the Biden administration to leave Afghanistan for good.

Republicans, for their part, criticize Biden for “weakening” America and endangering, according to Senator Mike Waltz, “national security and the image of the United States in the world.”

In fact, they have pledged to hold congressional hearings if the Republicans win the midterm elections in November.

SOURCE: AMPE

Source: Capital

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