US withdrawal from Afghanistan will damage the country’s development and destabilise the region’s security. But the decision has been made. America and its allies must now concentrate on mitigating its effects. The most immediate is a humanitarian crisis centred on Kabul airport. The logistics of repatriating American and other foreign citizens are complex enough, but in addition tens of thousands of Afghans are desperately seeking to leave rather than submit to Taliban rule.
The deadline set by President Biden of total withdrawal by August 31 is arbitrary and impractical. Western governments should state that troops and diplomatic staff will stay in Afghanistan until all their citizens, and all Afghans with travel permits, who wish to leave have been evacuated. To leave Kabul without discharging that