“Politiken” (Copenhagen):
“Afghanistan is the US’s biggest defeat since then and an extremely humiliating end to the longest superpower war of all time. And just as the defeat in Vietnam led to a rethink in US foreign policy, the defeat in Afghanistan must have both the US and theirs Getting allies to rethink what military intervention can do. Afghan women are now heading back to the burqa and all who have helped the West and believed in our vision of a more liberal and open society are in mortal danger. It’s almost unbearable to see that. “
“Irish Times” (Dublin):
“International fears that the Taliban’s victory will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe and a refugee disaster that will affect the country’s neighbors and also Europe have not yet been expressed in a new willingness on the part of the regional powers Pakistan, Iran or China to seriously act with the Taliban, who have indicated through their negotiators in Doha that a new regime wants to avoid the diplomatic isolation that its predecessor suffered 20 years ago, a readiness not to host a resurgent al-Qaeda, and an assurance that it would be less strict governing could offer a diplomatic opportunity.
With the US sidelined, the greatest hope lies in opening talks within the UN. Secretary General António Guterres calls for an immediate ceasefire followed by ‘good faith’ negotiations. Estonia and Norway have called for the Security Council to be convened immediately, presumably with Ireland’s support. The five major veto powers must react now, and the Security Council is expected to meet shortly. He will have a lot to talk about. “
“The Telegraph” (London):
“What many MPs and commentators fail to take into account is the fact that the West did not go to war to overthrow the Taliban in 2001. Had the fundamentalists not given shelter to the al Qaeda fanatics who attacked the World Trade Center, the mullahs would have likely been in power for the past 20 years, but should there be any signs that Afghanistan is once again a security threat to the West, a non-ground military response will be required to stop it.
Boris Johnson chaired a meeting of the Cobra Crisis Unit yesterday and Parliament will meet on Wednesday to discuss the crisis. It is unclear what the government can say or do. The least it could offer is to take in all Afghans who worked for the British armed forces during the conflict. But for those stuck there, it might be too late now. Should there be talks with the Taliban, the security of these people must be an absolute condition on the NATO side. The truth, however, is that the Taliban do not need to negotiate. “
“Wall Street Journal” (New York):
“The deadline set by (Ex-US President) Mr (Donald) Trump for the withdrawal was a mistake, but (US President) Mr (Joe) Biden could have avoided it. (…) Mr Biden would have the modest one Maintain the (military) presence suggested by his military and foreign policy advisers (…) Instead, he ordered a swift and complete withdrawal (…) Just four months later, the result is the worst US humiliation since the fall of Saigon in 1975.
The Taliban say they want a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ in Kabul, but the scenes are still very reminiscent of a US defeat. The race to destroy confidential documents. The helicopters evacuating US diplomats. (…) The consequences of all of this will play out over many months and years, and none of them will be good. (…) The costs will be all the more painful because the ugliness of this surrender was so unnecessary. “
“De Telegraaf” (Amsterdam):
“The deployment of the terrorist force is a defeat for the West, with the United States headed by President Joe Biden. If the reports of the introduction of Sharia law and other cruel practices are correct, then an exodus of Afghans will quickly begin A suitable response must be found for the flow of refugees, and our country could be forced to adopt a strict asylum policy.
For one group of people, however, we need to act quickly: security guards and others who helped us in the fight against the extremists. How serious the situation is for them can be seen from the fact that they identify themselves in the lion’s den and have working agreements with the Dutch state in their hands that seem to mention a duty of care. That has to be done before it’s too late. “
“The New Zurich Times”:
“A large part of the responsibility rests with President Joe Biden personally. After taking office, he maintained his entrenched conviction that further military engagement in the Hindu Kush was worthless. He overruled and ignored the Pentagon leadership, which advocated a continued military presence all the experts who saw a catastrophe looming with the hasty total withdrawal. (…)
But Biden underestimates the fact that with this fiasco America is once again perceived as an unreliable actor – an impression that he actually wanted to correct after the turmoil of the Trump era. Washington is also largely losing the ability to influence the region. Refugee flows are likely to cause tremors beyond Afghanistan. Another threatening scenario is that terror cells develop under the protection of the Taliban, as in the 1990s. With a view to the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Al-Qaeda attacks in 2001, the impression arises that America has already forgotten one of the most important lessons from the tragedy of that time. “
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“Tages-Anzeiger” (Zurich):
“It would be naive to believe the anointing assurances of the Taliban that they respect the rights of women or the press and want to serve the people and the country. The past has shown what the words of the Stone Age Islamists are worth, namely nothing: They do not want a parliament, no elections and certainly no religious freedom, but an emir and a few mullahs who rule in the name of their sharia as they see fit.
The corrupt government in Kabul was partly responsible for the fact that it could come to this. Above all, however, it was because the USA and its western partners had massively overestimated their influence on Afghanistan for 20 years. Since 2001 they have been pumping astronomical sums into building up the security forces. The Biden government therefore assumed that it would take the Taliban at least a year and a half to come back to power. Now it took a week and a half. With their brutal and cunning strategy, the Taliban completely surprised the US and the West in general. “
“Lidove noviny” (Prague):
“The fall of Kabul comes so suddenly that it will leave its mark on the psyche of Western societies. For Europeans it should mean the end of the era of military operations abroad. In 2002, the then German Defense Minister Peter Struck said security The Federal Republic will also be defended in the Hindu Kush. Today the voters would laugh at him. The discussions on the Internet speak a clear language: No to migration, No to relief operations, No to rescue operations for others. That is nothing new or beautiful, but the spectacular fall Kabuls emphasizes that again. “
Video from Washington: Is the criticism of Joe Biden justified?
“Kommersant” (Moscow):
“One day the power apparatus collapsed in Afghanistan. Sunday, August 15, became a historic date in Afghanistan’s modern history: Kabul fell, President Ashraf Ghani fled; and negotiations for a” peaceful transfer of power “began. to the Taliban – that is, on the terms of the Afghan government’s surrender.
The conquest of Kabul by the Taliban movement, which was banned in Russia, proceeded purposefully and without bloodshed. According to experts, behind such a rapid change in the situation could be agreements between the US, the Taliban and the forces supporting them in Pakistan.
By overthrowing the system of President Ghani, who had been dropped by the US, the Taliban now have to cope with a task that is new and difficult for them: to bring the divided country together and avoid past mistakes in order to receive international recognition and aid from abroad . “
“The World” (Madrid):
“For Afghanistan, the return of the Taliban means the abolition of the fragile system of freedoms. There will be suppression of dissidents and persecution of the civilian population, especially women. The monumental fiasco of the West, primarily the White House, is on Afghan soil This is very bad news for the international community. One must now fear a destabilization of the region, which would be extremely dangerous. The new development not only strengthens Pakistan’s position on the geopolitical chessboard, it also gives wings to jihadist terrorism. “
“La Repubblica” (Roma):
“Four years after the dissolution of the ‘Islamic State’ by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the recapture of a large part of Afghanistan by the Taliban, who have now moved into Kabul, is a victory for global jihad because they defend against more extreme Sunni fundamentalism Giving back territory to a nation in which to build their own model of an emirate based on the darker version of Sharia, Islamic law …
One has to ask what the origin of the Taliban recapture is, i.e. what went wrong in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that the decision by the United States – made by ex-President Donald Trump and confirmed by his successor Joe Biden – to withdraw troops sparked the current escalation that led the weak Afghan nation to self-drive was left. Likewise, NATO is faced with the apparent failure of handing over power to the local leadership, for which it has allocated enormous resources. “
