As American troops withdraw from Afghanistan, one cannot but remark some similarities with the debacle that accompanied the sudden U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in April 1975. As Saigon fell to communist forces, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were quickly airlifted out of the country. In the resulting chaotic evacuation, more than 130,000 people fled Vietnam after the North Vietnamese captured Saigon. Many of the refugees, especially those who had supported the American military, eventually were flown to Guam and later settled in the U.S. and Canada.
Now, we have the hundreds of thousands fleeing Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to capture more and more of the districts and cities. So far this year, according to the United Nations, around 330,000 Afghans have been displaced, more than half of them fleeing their homes since the U.S. began its withdrawal in May. Since the country had historically been in a state of war and chaos, notably involving the Soviet Union in the early eighties and Taliban regimes in the mid-nineties, Afghans in the millions had already accounted for one of the world’s largest populations of refugees and asylum-seekers.
Before U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from the country in September, both the U.S. and Canada are now organizing the large-scale evacuation of endangered Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the U.S. and Canadian governments. The Taliban have ratcheted up attacks on civil society activists and women in particular, frequently assassinating judges, journalists, local officials and anyone else considered as ‘traitors’. Like the so-called Vietnamese “boat people”, in recent weeks the number of Afghans illegally crossing the borders with Pakistan and Iran shot up around 30%-40% compared with the period before international troops began withdrawing. As noted by various support groups in the U.S. and Canada, the growing backlog of Afghans who face threats because of their work with their governments has left more than 20,000 eligible Afghans and their families trapped in bureaucratic limbo in Afghanistan. The sooner they can be airlifted out, the better their chances for survival once the Taliban retake the country. Let there be no doubt, the Taliban will once again rule most if not all of Afghanistan!
All of this is to say that the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan should be of no surprise given the history of this twenty year war going back to 2001. Despite the U.S. spending at least $4 billion a year on the Afghan military, its security forces have shown that they are not up to the task of defeating the Taliban. The current Afghan administration in Kabul has failed to negotiate a truce with the Taliban, although given numerous opportunities and having the support of the Americans and NATO countries. Until lately, the American and Canadian media had tended to ignore what was obviously happening in the country. Canada’s past involvement included efforts to provide security to Afghanistan’s new government, and aid reconstruction in a country driven by a generation of war. Canadians contributed to the war against a growing Taliban insurgency and suffered numerous casualties. Canada concluded combat operations in 2011 and left Afghanistan in 2014. However, many Canadians believe that the Canadian government should still help those Afghans who served with Canadian troops and officials during that period.
For past observations concerning Afghanistan, I refer you to the following two blogs:
FROLITICKS 
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