As the U.S. tries to stick to the August 31 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Pentagon is actually sending more troops to protect the Kabul embassy amid a Taliban offensive.
In the past week, the Taliban has waged a devastatingly effective campaign against the Afghan Armed Forces, capturing at least 12 provincial capitals, including Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities. Toward the beginning of the week, President Joe Biden said he did “not regret” his decision to stick to the previously agreed-upon timeline for the (almost) full American withdrawal by the end of August. “Afghan leaders have to come together,” Biden said on Tuesday while noting the trillions of U.S. dollars wasted and thousands of American lives lost there since 9/11.
