By Paul Tyson
Looking back at 2021, I think that one of the most remarkable ― but least recognized ― achievements that year was the mass evacuation of people from Afghanistan.
The event has been overshadowed by criticism that many of the Afghan citizens who worked for the Americans were left behind, caused by the chaos around the airport gates in Kabul. Nonetheless, getting more than 124,000 people out is impressive and will likely be recognized as such in future years.
To be sure, the Kabul Airport was not the beaches of Dunkirk. It was a functioning airport that the Taliban victors allowed the allied forces to use to withdraw Americans and the Afghani citizens who worked for them.
American military facilities in Qatar, Germany and in the U.S. became temporary refugee camps before the fleeing Afghans were relocated to other locations in America and around the world. Unfortunately, there was less televised coverage of this aspect of the operation compared to the dramatic pictures that were broadcast at Kabul Airport itself.
The evacuation brought back memories of when I served briefly as a State Department adviser in Afghanistan in 2006. I flew into the military section of Kabul Airport from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. While in Kabul, I made a trip by Blackhawk helicopter to Bagram Air Force Base, the biggest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan and comparable to Osan Air Base in Korea. The helicopter pilots loved Bagram since they could use multiple landing areas on the base.
When I left Afghanistan after a month's service, I experienced a "hot load" where a C-17 transport plane touched down at Kabul Airport and we were loaded onto the aircraft while its engines kept running before immediately taking off for Germany. This was similar to the procedure used in the evacuation.
The Afghan evacuation has been compared to the fall of Saigon in 1975 or the British retreat from Dunkirk in 1940. But those events were undertaken under more difficult circumstances. In contrast, American and Taliban officials were already negotiating in Doha, Qatar about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, although the agreed arrangements partially fell apart due to the swiftness of the Taliban takeover of Kabul and the rest of the country.
Compare that to the fall of Saigon. The North Vietnamese shelled and rocketed the airport and closed that option. That left helicopters, which needed to load those fleeing from the rooftop of the U.S. Embassy, to fill the gap. But that proved inadequate and many people were left behind.
The situation got so bad that South Vietnamese pilots flying their helicopters out to U.S. aircraft carriers offshore saw them being pushed into the ocean after unloading due to a shortage of hanger and deck space.
Dunkirk was a sea evacuation in a wartime environment with the beaches becoming a battlefield, with artillery shelling and strafing by the Luftwaffe. The only similarity between Dunkirk and Kabul was the masses of military equipment left behind to be picked over by the conquerors. German officers selected American-made staff cars. The Taliban picked over Humvees and drove them while dressed in confiscated U.S. uniforms.
Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport was a much less hostile environment despite several suicide bombings at the gates and the occasional mortar and missile round targeting the airport. The situation could have been much worse since the airport was located in a built-up area of Kabul and was surrounded by high-rise urban development.
Being able to function from a small part of the larger Kabul airport was a logistical triumph that enabled operations to go on unimpeded and helped the evacuation to succeed.
Some analysts believe that more people could have been evacuated if the larger Bagram Air Base had been used. But Bagram was located too far from central Kabul.
The situation is analogous to the choices that Korea might face if there was ever an attack on Seoul. Do you evacuate from Gimpo Airport, which would save time, or else do you head for the bigger Incheon International Airport outside the city?
Now that the war is over, Bagram airport has taken on the air of a large scrap yard and open air market. The disabled and sabotaged equipment left in place will likely remain there for a while. Guns, ammo, uniforms and generators have been carried off by those Taliban fighters who were lucky enough to get the early pickings.
But Bagram has the potential to become Kabul's new international airport. It has two runways and a fuel and maintenance infrastructure. Although Bagram is far outside of Kabul, its distance to the city center is comparable to airports in many cities. It is likely that Kabul will expand in its direction as the city grows. Although the Taliban might now lack the technical skills to develop Bagram, no doubt Turkish airport construction companies will be eager to help.
Paul Tyson is a retired U.S. diplomat teaching diplomacy and government at New England College.
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The event has been overshadowed by criticism that many of the Afghan citizens who worked for the Americans were left behind, caused by the chaos around the airport gates in Kabul. Nonetheless, getting more than 124,000 people out is impressive and will likely be recognized as such in future years.
To be sure, the Kabul Airport was not the beaches of Dunkirk. It was a functioning airport that the Taliban victors allowed the allied forces to use to withdraw Americans and the Afghani citizens who worked for them.
American military facilities in Qatar, Germany and in the U.S. became temporary refugee camps before the fleeing Afghans were relocated to other locations in America and around the world. Unfortunately, there was less televised coverage of this aspect of the operation compared to the dramatic pictures that were broadcast at Kabul Airport itself.
The evacuation brought back memories of when I served briefly as a State Department adviser in Afghanistan in 2006. I flew into the military section of Kabul Airport from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. While in Kabul, I made a trip by Blackhawk helicopter to Bagram Air Force Base, the biggest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan and comparable to Osan Air Base in Korea. The helicopter pilots loved Bagram since they could use multiple landing areas on the base.
When I left Afghanistan after a month's service, I experienced a "hot load" where a C-17 transport plane touched down at Kabul Airport and we were loaded onto the aircraft while its engines kept running before immediately taking off for Germany. This was similar to the procedure used in the evacuation.
The Afghan evacuation has been compared to the fall of Saigon in 1975 or the British retreat from Dunkirk in 1940. But those events were undertaken under more difficult circumstances. In contrast, American and Taliban officials were already negotiating in Doha, Qatar about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, although the agreed arrangements partially fell apart due to the swiftness of the Taliban takeover of Kabul and the rest of the country.
Compare that to the fall of Saigon. The North Vietnamese shelled and rocketed the airport and closed that option. That left helicopters, which needed to load those fleeing from the rooftop of the U.S. Embassy, to fill the gap. But that proved inadequate and many people were left behind.
The situation got so bad that South Vietnamese pilots flying their helicopters out to U.S. aircraft carriers offshore saw them being pushed into the ocean after unloading due to a shortage of hanger and deck space.
Dunkirk was a sea evacuation in a wartime environment with the beaches becoming a battlefield, with artillery shelling and strafing by the Luftwaffe. The only similarity between Dunkirk and Kabul was the masses of military equipment left behind to be picked over by the conquerors. German officers selected American-made staff cars. The Taliban picked over Humvees and drove them while dressed in confiscated U.S. uniforms.
Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport was a much less hostile environment despite several suicide bombings at the gates and the occasional mortar and missile round targeting the airport. The situation could have been much worse since the airport was located in a built-up area of Kabul and was surrounded by high-rise urban development.
Being able to function from a small part of the larger Kabul airport was a logistical triumph that enabled operations to go on unimpeded and helped the evacuation to succeed.
Some analysts believe that more people could have been evacuated if the larger Bagram Air Base had been used. But Bagram was located too far from central Kabul.
The situation is analogous to the choices that Korea might face if there was ever an attack on Seoul. Do you evacuate from Gimpo Airport, which would save time, or else do you head for the bigger Incheon International Airport outside the city?
Now that the war is over, Bagram airport has taken on the air of a large scrap yard and open air market. The disabled and sabotaged equipment left in place will likely remain there for a while. Guns, ammo, uniforms and generators have been carried off by those Taliban fighters who were lucky enough to get the early pickings.
But Bagram has the potential to become Kabul's new international airport. It has two runways and a fuel and maintenance infrastructure. Although Bagram is far outside of Kabul, its distance to the city center is comparable to airports in many cities. It is likely that Kabul will expand in its direction as the city grows. Although the Taliban might now lack the technical skills to develop Bagram, no doubt Turkish airport construction companies will be eager to help.
Paul Tyson is a retired U.S. diplomat teaching diplomacy and government at New England College.
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