The Afghanistan War is over. U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Frank McKenzie announced Monday afternoon, Aug. 30, the departure of the last U.S. Air Force evacuation flight from Kabul, and said “Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.”
But the furious likes of Tony Blair have not given up. A special session of the UN Security Council, called at the special request of Britain and France, did not adopt the Anglo-French resolution which would have called for a “safe zone” in Kabul supposedly administered by the UN, and similar “humanitarian corridors” elsewhere in Afghanistan. A considerably watered-down resolution, passed 13-0 with Russia and China abstaining, will nonetheless will do no good. It demanded of the Afghan Taliban “that every effort be made to allow for the rapid and secure reopening of the Kabul airport and its surrounding area,” with no one preventing Afghans from travelling whenever they wish, and that the Taliban must “adhere to this and all other commitments.
