It took a while before Germany's rescue operation gained momentum. Now we've flown out about 3,000 people.
What annoys me is all the arms fallen into the hands of the Taliban. While it was clear from the outset and had always been part of Washington's and the Pentagon's scenarios because that number of heavy equipment could never have been transferred back to the States I wonder why those arms were not blown up.
We're talking about 600 armoured vehicles Type M1117, about 8,500 Humvees, 150 „MaxxPro“, 100,000 military enhanced Toyota Hilux und Ford Ranger, plus 68 combat helis MD 500 „Defender“, 16 „Blackhawk“, four C-130 „Hercules“. Apart from those the Taliban also own more than 100 Russian helis (Mi-17 und Mi-24) as well as 1,000 armoured vehicles and tanks of Soviet origin. They also found several US high-tech "Scan-Eagle" drones and face-recognition systems which they are now using to detect activists seeking shelter in save houses. We can only hope that many of those arms become dated and can't be used due to spareparts and the necessary training lacking.
The lesson to be learnt from all this clearly is for the West to stop trying to bring freedom by military intervention to other countries which despise western values and political systems. It has never worked neither in Asia nor in Africa. Foreigners are the actual problem in these countries, not the solution. As Biden said, in the end the majority of people in those countries will always be loyal to their own people, beliefs, and governments as 300,000 Afghan soldiers have demonstrated. Such a policy will imply, however, that the West should not revert back to its old ways when the next crisis in other countries comes but should rather rely on diplomatic channels exclusively but then energetically.