Biden slammed for colossal US failure that is bringing Taliban to gates of Kabul

WASHINGTON: The United States is rushing back 3000 troops to Afghanistan- with another 5000 on standby in Qatar and Kuwait- to help evacuate American personnel amid what is being seen as a colossal military and diplomatic failure from Washington that has brought Taliban to the gates of Kabul.
Forget months or weeks that US experts predicted it would take for the medieval Pakistan-backed Taliban to overrun the Afghan capital. Ground reports suggest it could happen in a matter of days. Provincial capitals and districts are falling to the Taliban so quickly, one US analyst wrote, that he barely had time to update a map that now shows all but Kabul and a 100 km perimeter around it under Taliban control.
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The US response? Get out of the place and leave Afghanistan to its own fate even as reports are emerging of Talibanist diktats- from banning of music to cell phones- being imposed across captured territories where government forces are said to be surrendering in droves. UN agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe as Taliban hunt down perceived enemies and bear down on women they view as chattel, setting back two decades of modest progress to take Afghanistan back to the dark ages.

President Biden is being eviscerated for a precipitous US withdrawal, although a broad decision in this regard goes back to his predecessors who like him also believed that enough American blood has been shed to avenge 9/11 and eliminate the threat of it being repeated.
Amid recrimination and remorse in Washington, there is the familiar political one-upmanship with supporters of former President Donald Trump, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, criticizing Biden for weak leadership.

While some analysts apportion the blame to successive US Presidents, intelligence agencies, and military commanders, others argue that if 20 years of a US military presence couldn't stop a total collapse within weeks of a departure, another few months or years, would not have made a difference.
"US military/intelligence leaders are directly responsible for the biggest intelligence failure since Tet in 1968. How did the Taliban plan, organize, position, and execute this massive, nation wide offensive under the noses of USMIL, CIA, DIA, NDS, ANDSF, etc.?" asked Long War Journal's Bill Roggio, amid comparisons to the US rout in Vietnam.
In all the kvetching, there is nary a thought for New Delhi, whose equities in Afghanistan, including a $300m investment in Salma Dam, is evaporating with every Taliban advance. The imminent collapse of the Ghani government is seen as leaving India open to Talibanist depredations in Kashmir, much to the delight of the Pakistani establishment that is gloating over the US-India failure to shore up the Afghan government.