‘America’s longest war ends’: How newspapers covered Afghanistan withdrawal

The New York Post was one of the few papers that chose to break ranks with the theme of the day, instead focusing on President Joe Biden looking at his watch as 13 service members who were killed in the bomb blast were returned home.

UNTETHERED FROM REALITY, BIDEN CALLS HIS AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL A ‘SUCCESS’

Here is a sampling of the front pages:

Wall Street Journal: America’s longest war ends

“Despite assurances to the contrary by Mr. Biden and other top administration officials, Americans and Afghan allies were left behind, though the State Department couldn’t provide precise figures.

The U.S. earlier Monday said it was working to assist hundreds of Americans still there. Advocacy groups said as many as 60,000 Afghan interpreters, drivers and others who assisted the U.S. military, CIA and U.S. diplomatic personnel over the years, along with their families, remain in the country, at risk of retribution from the Taliban.”

Washington Post: America exits Afghanistan

“But for President Biden, the end of the ‘forever war’ is more of an inflection point than an actual conclusion. The departure of forces kicks off a new phase of the United States’s entanglement in Afghanistan that could also prove perilous — and no less challenging for American leadership than the previous two decades.

Biden and his team now have to grapple with deep skepticism over whether the Taliban, which now rules Afghanistan, will keep its promises for a peaceful transition. It pledged not to seek revenge on the Afghans who worked with and aided Americans during the conflict, and to respect the rights of women — at least within the framework of the group’s interpretation of Islamic law. But many foreign policy experts and even Biden allies remain mistrustful of what, exactly, that means.”

USA Today: Longest war ends

“Afghanistan defied 4 presidents: Now, what comes next?“

“Biden delivered on his promise to end the U.S. deployment in Afghanistan, a stance he had advocated privately as vice president in the Obama administration and one he repeated publicly during the 2020 presidential campaign.

Responsibility for the start of the war and its leadership through a generation goes to his predecessors. Bush, Obama and Donald Trump each has faced scrutiny, some of it scathing, for decisions both military and diplomatic. By more than 2-1, 60%-28%, Americans told a USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll the war hadn’t been worth it.”

New York Post: Dishonor

“The picture of President Biden stealing a glance at his watch Sunday during a solemn ceremony for the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan says it all: Biden can’t deal with the reality of what he’s wrought; he’s desperate to move on.

What a dishonorable end to America’s longest war.

The last service member left Afghanistan late last night local time, and the Taliban took over the airport. But Biden already has his mind on other issues and is ignoring the damage he’s caused: the deaths of those 13 heroes and nearly 200 Afghans. The untold number of Americans and allies who have been left behind. The fact that his withdrawal puts Afghanistan in the hands of Taliban terrorists who protected al Qaeda after 9/11. The likelihood of new terrorists emerging there.

And, of course, the monumental humiliation and loss of trust he’s caused for America across the globe.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

New York Times: US forces leave Kabul; Evacuation ends

“A solemn pullout in a lost-fight’s last hours“

“The end of the United States’ longest war was unceremonious — trash blowing across the single airstrip of Kabul’s international airport, Afghans lingering outside the gates, still hoping in vain for evacuation, Taliban firing victoriously into the night sky.

In its final days, it was two U.S. Marines shaking hands with Taliban fighters in the dim glow of the domestic terminal. It was lines of starved and dehydrated evacuees boarding gray planes that took them to uncertain futures. It was the Taliban’s leadership dictating their terms, as a generation of Afghans pondered the end of 20 years of some kind of expanded hope.

It was highway overpasses and park benches stretched across the United States, named in honor of the war’s dead.

The end, at least for the Americans and their Western allies, came on a Monday after the thousands of U.S. troops defending Hamid Karzai International Airport flew out in waves, one lumbering transport plane after another until none were left, in the final hours of the lost war.”