The United States has “achieved” its objectives in Afghanistan, says US Secretary of State, while – franceinfo

“This is not Saigon.” Asked by CNN on Sunday August 15, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected any comparison between the situation in Kabul and the fall of Saigon in Vietnam in 1975, reaffirming that the United States had “achieved the objectives” of the war in Afghanistan. A statement made as the Taliban were about to enter the capital Kabul, where they are expected to take power.

“We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with a mission and that mission was to settle the score of those who attacked us on September 11 [2001]. We have accomplished this mission “, assaulted the head of American diplomacy.

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Staff from the US embassy in Kabul were rushed to the airport in the Afghan capital, where thousands of US troops were dispatched, added Antony Blinken.

The radical Islamist movement is set to return to power, twenty years after being ousted by a US-led coalition over its refusal to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in its wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Stay in Afghanistan indefinitely “is not in our national interest”, he added, recalling that the United States now want to give itself the means to counter China’s aggressive policy in the Pacific.

But when you think of women and young girls “who have seen their lives progress “ during the 20 years of American presence in Afghanistan, “it’s painful”, he admitted. “It’s hard.”