WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2021) The United States will not be able to look back with pride on its record in the chaotic and rushed evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, this week, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
"I cannot think if we continue the way we have been going that we will look back with pride," Armitage, who also participated in the evacuation of US forces and nationals from Saigon in South Vietnam in 1975, told a podcast of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) on Thursday.
Armitage said the Biden administration and the US military had to be seen to be making a much greater effort to evacuate not only all US nationals but also Afghans who had worked with the United States and now feared ruthless reprisals from the victorious Taliban forces.
"Unless we are seen as moving heaven and earth we will not be able to look with pride on this moment. ... Right now, in my view, the Taliban don't give a damn whether the United States recognizes them or not: They are winners and right now they've got Russia, China [and] Iran in their corner," Armitage said.
Taliban forces may behave better in Kabul, especially around the airport but remained to be seen how they would act in fully occupying and establishing their control over Jalalabad and other provincial centers, he added.
