| There was no triumphant address to Congress. No U.S. ticker tape or televised flag-waving. Just a long line of U.S. soldiers, their belongings slung over their shoulders on the sweltering tarmac of the Kabul airport as they boarded the last American military flights out of Afghanistan and departed before midnight local time, or 3:29 p.m. EDT on Monday. The celebratory explosions that lit up Kabul’s night sky like red flares and fireworks came from the Taliban (The Associated Press). In September 2001, former President George W. Bush sent U.S. forces to fight in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and the Taliban, telling Americans they “should not expect one battle but a lengthy campaign.” That war ended in national exhaustion, resignation and sorrow as President Biden pulled U.S. forces out and turned Afghanistan back to the Taliban, who waited 20 years to again conquer a country of 38 million people in just 11 days. 
© Getty Images Biden will deliver a speech to the nation today at noon (The Hill). In his brief remarks on Monday, the president repeated that his advisers were fully behind his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces as well as the much-criticized planning to accomplish his instructions. “I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned,” he said. “Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.” How did the curtain fall on America’s longest war? Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, leader of the United States Central Command in Tampa, Fla., appeared remotely via video and read a few sentences in the soft lilt of his Alabama roots. He announced “completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals and vulnerable Afghans.” The toll: 2,400 U.S. fatalities, including 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul on Thursday; a U.S. price tag approaching $1 trillion; and deaths of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who were trained by a global coalition of nations and fought for what they hoped would be peace and better lives. The administration said a “small number” of U.S. citizens who want to leave remained in Afghanistan as of Monday (The Hill). A much larger number of Afghans, estimated in the tens of thousands, remained despite their efforts in the last few weeks to leave their country because of their fears of the Taliban’s villainy. Reuters explainer: What happens now in Afghanistan? The Hill: Last U.S. military plane out of Afghanistan. The Hill: U.S. exit from Afghanistan ends 20 years of war. The New York Times: The U.S. finishes its evacuation, and an era ends in Afghanistan. The Hill: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, was the last U.S. soldier to depart Afghanistan before midnight on Monday. The Pentagon released his picture taken in the ghostly green illumination of night vision as he boarded a U.S. Air Force C-17. Information about his role is HERE. The Hill and The New York Times: Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained in a speech on Monday that all diplomats had departed Afghanistan. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, once one of the largest U.S. posts in the world, will remain closed. U.S. diplomatic operations for Afghans now shift to Qatar. The Taliban triumphantly took control today of the Kabul airport, declaring victory. The Associated Press reported that Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents. In a show of control, turbaned Taliban leaders were flanked by the insurgents’ elite Badri unit as they walked across the tarmac hours after the U.S. departure. The commandos in camouflage uniforms proudly posed for photos. “Afghanistan is finally free,” Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, told AP on the tarmac. “The military and civilian side (of the airport) are with us and in control. Hopefully, we will be announcing our Cabinet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe.” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressed the gathered members of the Badri unit. “I hope you be very cautious in dealing with the nation,” he said, according to AP. “Our nation has suffered war and invasion and the people do not have more tolerance.” At the end of his remarks, the Badri fighters shouted: “God is the greatest!” Mujahid told Afghan state television that the Taliban would get the airport up and running, with outside help, if necessary. “Our technical team will be checking the technical and logistical needs of the airport,” he said. “If we are able to fix everything on our own, then we won’t need any help. If there is need for technical or logistics help to repair the destruction, then we might ask help from Qatar or Turkey.” He didn’t elaborate on what was destroyed. The Islamist militants face questions about a projected economic meltdown as Western countries, including the United States, halt essential financial support that kept Afghanistan afloat. Qatar, the tiny Gulf Arab state, is being asked to help shape what comes next because of its ties to both Washington and the Taliban (The Associated Press). On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoฤan confirmed that his country would maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. He downplayed a suggestion that Turkey would operate the Kabul airport and the Taliban would be responsible for security, saying Ankara would be in a tough position if another attack occurred there. “How can we give the security to you? How would we explain it to the world if you took over security and there is another bloodbath there? This is not an easy job,” he said (Al Jazeera). The Washington Post: The fall of Kabul: Surprise, panic and fateful choices: The day America lost its longest war. The Washington Post: Biden’s tough meeting with relatives of the fallen at Dover Air Force Base in Del. 
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