One of the questions avoided by Joe Biden is whether the Afghanistan defeat can be compared to Saigon's Fall during the Vietnam War. Kabul's quick capture and overrun by the Taliban forces brought back memories of Saigon again and another defeat caused by the Democrat president.
Months ago, the US set a plan in motion to pull out US troops, who have been fighting for the last 20 years in the country. Circumstances that led to the Jihadi's victory were compared to the cut and run from Saigon all those years in 1975.
Based on the pullout of US forces, a deal was reached that the Taliban followed, but some disruptive attacks led to this embarrassing situation. Joe Biden honored the agreement but was seen unlike ex-President Trump, and the Jihadi did not want to cross him.
Kabul was left in chaos
In April, the current president said that all American troops would be out of Afghanistan by September this year. Instead, the Taliban surged in such a short time despite Biden's declaration that the capital was theirs in a month, reported the Express UK.
Conquering Kabul and securing the palace placed the extremists as rulers after getting kicked out 20 years ago. The US has to bear the stigma of running and trying to save its people from terrorist reprisals.
Last Monday, images of the Kabul airport in chaos after the Afghanistan defeat spread worldwide, with Afghans trying to flee for dear life on US cargo planes like Saigon's fall. Those who were left behind face an uncertain future like years earlier when the Vietnam war ended, noted Al Jazeera.
The monumental misstep of the US president at the sudden US force departure getting caught off-guard is seen as the worst failure by any US leader in recent times.
He single-handedly served another 'Fall of Saigon', an earlier failure that haunted America. This failure remains to stare back at him in the face and the country he was supposed to protect.
The trauma of Saigon comes back
The fall of Saigon officially ended the Vietnam War, which the US lost. The US and anti-communist allies had helped South Vietnam in this conflict.
In the end, the People's Army of Vietnam captured Saigon, the capital of the southern side, on April 30, 1975. Referring to Saigon's Fall, Biden said there would be no helicopters from the embassy rooftops this time in Afghanistan. However, the departure to Kabul airport is worse, cited AP News.
No matter how it is explained to absolve the current US administration of blame, Americans' flight to Kabul airport is the same in Saigon.
Confidently, it would be long before the Taliban gets to the capital, according to Intel, but they were wrong. Last Sunday, the Taliban captured the country, and all pride and confidence placed on the US fell to ruin.
Former defense minister Tobias Ellwood called it 'Saigon 2.0' and doing what can be done to get everyone out. He noted that the US should not have pullout too early, which lead to a second failure like the Vietnam war.
On his Monday's message, Biden was adamant the US should leave Afghanistan but refused to accept the blame on how things happened too fast! The message is clear to blame the Afghanistan defeat on the Afghans themselves, citing Ashraf Ghani's flight at the last minute.
