Three years ago this month America withdrew from Afghanistan
A trio of new books tries to make sense of the war and its aftermath
Photographs and videos captured the haunting chaos, as America withdrew from Afghanistan and Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15th 2021. In one photo 640 Afghans are crammed inside an army cargo plane, fleeing the country on one of America’s final flights. In a video that horrified the world, Afghans who were not offered a place on another departing plane can be seen clinging on as it took off. So strong was their desperation that they ended up plummeting to their deaths rather than live under Taliban rule.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Cables from Kabul”
From the August 17th 2024 edition
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