Afghan government forces are collapsing even faster than U.S. military leaders thought possible just a few months ago when President Joe Biden ordered a full withdrawal. But there's little appetite at the White House, the Pentagon or among the American public for trying to stop the rout and it probably is too late to do so.
Mr. Biden has made clear he has no intention of reversing the decision he made last spring, even as the outcome seems to point toward a Taliban takeover. With most U.S. troops now gone and the Taliban accelerating their battlefield gains, American military leaders are not pressing him to change his mind. They know that the only significant option would be for the President to restart the war he already decided to end.
The Taliban, who ruled the country from 1996 until U.S. forces invaded after the 9/11 attacks, captured three more provincial capitals on Wednesday and two on Thursday. They have captured 11 provincial capitals in a week that has given them effective control of about two-thirds of the country. The insurgents have no air force and are outnumbered by Afghan forces, but they have captured territory with stunning speed.
John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said the Afghans still have time to save themselves from final defeat.
“No potential outcome has to be inevitable, including the fall of Kabul,” Mr. Kirby told reporters. “It doesn’t have to be that way. It really depends on what kind of political and military leadership the Afghans can muster to turn this around.”
Mr. Biden made a similar point a day earlier, telling reporters that U.S. troops had done all they could over the past 20 years to assist the Afghans. “They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” he said.
The U.S. continues to support the Afghan military with limited air strikes, but those have not made a strategic difference thus far and are scheduled to end when the U.S. formally ends its role in the war on August 31. Mr. Biden could continue air strikes beyond that date, but given his firm stance on ending the war, that seems unlikely. Senior U.S. military officials had cautioned Mr. Biden that a full U.S. withdrawal could lead to a Taliban takeover, but the President decided in April that continuing the war was a waste.
He said on Tuesday that his decision holds, even amid talk that the Taliban could soon be within reach of Kabul, threatening the security of U.S. and other foreign diplomats.