US keeping distance as Afghan forces face Taliban rout
By ROBERT BURNS and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghan government forces are collapsing even faster than in the worst-case scenario sketched out by U.S. military leaders when President Joe Biden ordered a full military withdrawal last spring. It is likely too late for the United States to stop the rout and there’s little appetite at the White House or the Pentagon for even trying to do so. Biden has made clear he has no intention of reversing course, and the military is not pressing him to change his mind. They know that the only significant option would be for him to restart the war he already decided to end.
