About a month ago, US President Joe Biden delivered a speech on the situation in Afghanistan - announcing that he had ordered his withdrawal from the country after a 20-year stay.
When asked at the end of his remarks whether the Taliban takeover is "inevitable", he replied with great confidence: "No. Because you have 300,000 Afghan forces well equipped like any other army in the world, as well as an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban fighters.
The Escape from Saigon, GettyImages
The fall is not inevitable, "U.S. President Biden reiterated.
This week, however, the Mujahideen fighters were seen flying in helicopters, which until a few weeks ago belonged to the Afghan army that Biden praised - after they managed to take over most of the country in a blitz.
Yesterday they arrived in Kabul, the capital, and subdued it as well.
Until a few days ago, US intelligence estimates spoke of a "90-day" occupation of the country.
However, this assessment lasted no more than 90 hours in what appears to be one of the greatest intelligence failures in U.S. history, with images of Chinook helicopters hovering over the embassy while classified documents were burned by a retreating diplomatic team. .
Without a fight: The Taliban take over Jalalabad in Afghanistan // Photo: Reuters
Many of the images are reminiscent of the American withdrawal from Vietnam on April 30, 1975, incident collective memory of USA Fall of Saigon ", signifying the end of the long war that shaped generations.
Phrase" long war "now connects Afghanistan and Vietnam, although the parallels are requested .
As soon as the last American soldier makes his way back home, a mental arithmetic will begin that to some extent began a long time ago: how to maintain US hegemony against the great rival in the East?