Afghanistan/2021 withdrawal

 Afghanistan/2021 withdrawal 

Date	29 February 2020 - 30 August 2021
Location	Afghanistan
Perpetrators	USA, UK, NATO
Description	The end of the US–led NATO occupation of Afghanistan

Maj.-Gen. Chris Donahue, last US soldier to leave before midnight on 30 August 2021

The Afghanistan 2021 withdrawal was agreed on 29 February 2020, planned for the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and took place on 30 August 2021, when Major-General Chris Donahue was the last American soldier to leave Kabul, and US–led NATO troops ended 20 years of occupation in Afghanistan.

What's happening?

Afghanistan

The Taliban took control by mid-August and its co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar returned from exile in Qatar.

USA

Joe Biden initiated the chaotic withdrawal.

Most of Congress condemns, two congressmen (Peter Meijer and Seth Moulton) flew secretly there to get a perspective on the situation.

Some in favour include Matt Gaetz, Rand Paul and Donald Trump

CIA Director William Burns was sent to Kabul for a high level meeting in Kabul on 23. August 2021. Topics that probably have been discussed:

• extension of the evacuation deadline set by the Taliban for the 31. August
• handing back of some military and intelligence equipment, to prevent other state actors having a closer look at the technology (not unlike the Stinger buy back program of the 1980s)

Britain

UK/Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says that Al-Qaeda will re-enter Afghanistan. Johnny Mercer said the UK had "chosen defeat", describing the lack of "political will" as "shameful", "sad", "humiliating for the British army", and above all a "tragedy for the Afghan people".

Tom Tugendhat and Rory Stewart condemned the withdrawal.

As part of the Official opposition narrative, Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy also opposes the withdrawal.

On 18 August, UK Parliament was recalled. All mainstream newspapers condemned Boris Johnson. Johnson wants to negotiate with the Taliban.

“What I want to assure people is that our political and diplomatic efforts to find a solution for Afghanistan, working with the Taliban, of course if necessary, will go on.”
Boris Johnson (20 August 2021) 

Evacuation from Afghanistan

Full article: Evacuation from Afghanistan

Lots of countries evacuated their citizens in the largest airlift in history.

The British embassy failed to destroy sensitive documents.

Terror threat

Afghan evacuees at Hamid Karzai airport

On 26 August 2021, a British minister warned of an "imminent, highly lethal" terror attack at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport within hours:

Armed Forces minister James Heappey said there were "very credible" reports of a "severe" threat in the capital.

The Foreign Office last night issued new guidance telling anyone near the airport to "move away to a safe location and await further advice".

It comes amid a race to airlift thousands from Afghanistan before foreign troops depart.

The US has set a deadline of 31 August 2021 for the withdrawal of its troops, with President Joe Biden rejecting calls from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other allies for an extension.

Mr Heappey did not give a date for the last UK evacuation flights, but said it was likely that UK and other foreign troops would have to leave before the last American airlifts.

Terror blasts

Full article: 2021 Kabul Airport attacks

At 4:15pm on 26 August 2021, the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner tweeted:

Kabul hospital reports 30 wounded from airport blast. 6 died on the way to hospital. Suspicion falling on ISIS-K as the culprits.

The Australian newspaper reported:

US President Joe Biden said he stood ready to authorise further military force in Afghanistan and the US would “hunt down” the terrorist attackers that have left more than 100 dead, including 13 US marines, near Kabul airport.

In a televised address, he said the US would not be deterred by terrorism and the attacks would not shift the US from its timetable to complete the evacuation of US citizens by August 31.

“To those who carried out this attack, know this, we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said. “We have some reason to believe we know who they are, although we aren’t certain,” he added at a press conference at the White House.

 

An example

Page name	Description
Evacuation from Afghanistan	The evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan, one of the largest airlifts in history

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Evacuation from Afghanistan	“There's so many people arguing about the withdrawal from Afghanistan blaming Trump, blaming Biden. 'Oh we should withdraw like this'. No no there's only one way to withdraw it's called get the f*** out of Afghanistan. Okay people in the west need to stop with this colonial mindset thinking they can just invade countries kill people stay there for 20 years and then act like they are the victims at Kabul Airport.”	Richard Medhurst	27 August 2021
Peter Jennings (ASPI)	“The only person who thinks there is no chance of militarily victory in Afghanistan is Joe Biden”	Peter Jennings (ASPI)	June 2021
Bob Seely	“I know we have a duty to the world, I mean we think to the world's poor and we should be doing what we can to help. We don't have a duty to quote 'save the world'.”	Bob Seely	3 September 2021

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:A warring nation, united against us	Letter	19 August 2021	Craig Murray	Craig Murray's letter to The Herald from prison in Edinburgh: "As with the previous three times when UK invasions were defeated in Afghanistan, we have united a warring nation in hatred of us."
Document:Afghanistan is not about you	Article	19 August 2021	Ella Whelan	Neocon MPs are concerned about the Afghanistan/2021 withdraw. The only problem is that they only care about themselves, and thereby show us the narcissism of Western intervention.
Document:Britain’s delusions that it could take on the Taliban alone are ludicrous - what are our empire-nostalgic MPs smoking?	Article	19 August 2021	Tom Fowdy	The UK Parliament was recalled for an emergency debate over the Afghanistan/2021 withdraw. While the BBC focused on the divide between the sides of the house with their face mask wearing, Parliament was united against the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. Most MPs are urging Boris Johnson to go back to Afghanistan, and take on the Taliban, alone if necessary.
Document:The 20-year war on Afghanistan was a mistake	Speech	18 August 2021	Zarah Sultana	Speaking outside Parliament on 18 August 2021, prior to the Afghanistan emergency debate, Zarah Sultana joined colleagues including Jeremy Corbyn to say: "The war on Afghanistan shows – once and for all – that the West cannot deliver liberal democracy at the barrel of a gun. This war – the first 'War on Terror' – must be Britain's last war of aggression."
Document:The bloody legacy of Bomber Blair	Article	1 January 2022	Alex Snowdon	"Petition for Tony Blair to have his 'Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter' rescinded" Such an honour rests upon expecting us to conveniently forget or ignore the enormous damage that Blair did. People are right to be angry.
Document:Twenty Years On, We’ve Learned Nothing From 9/11	Speech	17 September 2021	Ron Paul	20 years on from 9/11, Ron Paul says that The Establishment in the United States has learned nothing since the attacks.

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