‘A LOT COULD STILL GO WRONG’: As if to underscore the dicey security situation at the Kabul airport, a brief firefight today ended with one member of the former Afghan army dead and the circumstances of the shooting unclear. The incident occurred at the airport’s north gate, where at least seven Afghans died Saturday after the crush of people waiting to get in resulted in a stampede.

“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss, of heartbreaking images you see on television. It’s just a fact,” said President Joe Biden in an address to the nation yesterday. “It would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now.”