After twenty years of military presence and five months of wandering the Biden administration, the last American soldiers have left Kabul

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The photo is blurry, taken at night, with greenish tones. We can see Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82e airborne division, setting foot aboard a C-17 cargo plane at the end of the runway at Hamid-Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Chris Donahue makes history. He is the last American soldier to leave Afghan soil.

There are no more US military forces in Afghanistan. The announcement was made late in the afternoon in Washington, Monday, August 30, by General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the central command. Either twenty-four hours before the planned deadline with the Taliban.

Twenty years of foreign deployment – the longest in the history of the United States – ended in an atmosphere of disarray and excitement. On Sunday, a drone strike meant to prevent an impending bombing caused the death of ten civilians, including seven children, in unsolved circumstances. Afghanistan has not finished haunting America.

To go deeper : In Afghanistan, the Taliban alone in command

Considered by three predecessors of Joe Biden, promised by the latter, this withdrawal was to arouse general relief and demonstrate a form of courage on the part of the Democratic president, after so many deaths and waste of funds. Yet it ends in a humiliating way. The first military power in the world escapes through a window, head down, fearing until the very last second a new attack, after the one which killed thirteen soldiers on August 26, as well as 180 Afghans.

Devastating symbolism

The site of the suicide attack, the airport, is now in the hands of the triumphant Taliban forces, who can argue that they drove the invader. Now it’s up to them to manage all the security, while“At least 2,000 hard-core fighters from the[organisation] Islamic state [EI] “ are in the country, according to General McKenzie, recently released from prison.

The end of the airlift has been decided, Joe Biden said in a statement, on “Unanimous recommendation” of the military hierarchy, anxious to protect the troops and to promote civilian flights for the Americans still present there. That is between 100 and 200 individuals, according to the State Department, to which are added still tens of thousands of “Afghan partners”, who hoped to flee. The latter are sacrificed.

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Along with many countries, the United States has organized the evacuation of nearly 123,000 people since August 14, including 6,000 Americans. A figure which is certainly impressive, but which cannot embellish the reality: the army abandons compatriots.

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