Escape from Kabul

This is an interesting look into the chaos around the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. I did like hearing different perspectives from US soldiers, Afghan civilians, and the Taliban themselves. It's always better to get first hand accounts than whatever gets filtered out in the news media.

However, I just can't give praise to this documentary because they completely overlook the culprit of this whole mess. All of this could have easily been avoided with better planning from the Biden administration. We'll probably never know the number of civilians, including children, who were killed in this sloppy, disorderly evacuation. How many allies and US civilians were left behind on their own to try and make it out alive?

It really shouldn't matter how you feel about politics to see where to place the blame. It is a complex issue involving a lot of different players, but once we decided to leave, it seems there was no forethought put into how to get out safely, and this falls directly to the US government, specifically the Biden administration.

After Trump signed 2020 treaty with Taliban, the State Department had more than a year to plan evacuation. Did Trump's decimation of the 'Deep State' affect State Dept & Pentagon plans?

Biden had 7 months to evacuate Americans & Afghan allies too whilst recovering economy from pandemic.

I recently rewatched Ken Burns 'The Vietnam War' evacuation of Saigon. America would stall that evacuation too, wanting to appear strong for Vietnam Republic.. The US Ambassador didn't allow evacuations until last days.

Both corrupt government allies in Vietnam & Afghanistan had part in poor withdrawal.

Yes we are thankful and proud of our volunteer veterans, am sorry for the women and children that will suffer the most under Taliban.

Bush should have been prosecuted for war crimes. How could withdrawal from Kabul be more FUBAR than the 20 yrs of graft in that country, just like Vietnam.

As "Escape From Kabul" (2022 release; 76 min) opens, then-President Trump announces in February, 2020 that the US will withdraw from Afghanistan. Newly elected President Biden sets a deadline of August 31, 2021. When the Taliban unexpectedly captures Kabul on August 15, 2021, it sets into motion a humanitarian drama and catastrophe, as hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens descend onto the Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to flee the country and the Taliban. At this point we are less than 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Jamie Roberts, on the heels of last year's excellent "Four Hours At the Capitol". Here Roberts reconstructs the second half of August, 2021. If you think that you know what went down from remembering a couple of clips of the evening news, you really DON'T know. This documentary unearths never before seen footage from a variety of sources, including from the US Marines, the Taliban and elsewhere. Seeing this harrowing and shocking footage will begin to give you an idea what these 2 weeks in August were: the very essence of a humanitarian catastrophe, driven by sheer desperation and fear. Yes, the Taliban leaders are interviewed, smug about defeating the Americans, but never asking themselves why it is that seemingly a vast majority of the Afghan population would rather flee if given the chance than live under Taliban rule. Last but not least: a sincere kudos to everyone, from the Marines to the US Air Force, who was able to airlift a reported 124,000 people under impossible circumstances, the largest airlift operation in US modern history. Bottom line: this is one of the best movies of 2022, period.

"Escape From Kabul" premiered a few days ago on HBO Max. I found it to be a deeply moving and shocking viewing experience. Frankly it should be required viewing for all HS and college students alike. Of course don't just take my words for it. If you have any interest in US history and geopolitics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Interesting. Afghanistan is in part of the world that is never at peace. It is sad armies go there to die. But this doesn't touch on is the incredible ineptness of our political leadership. It is almost like they set up our military to fail. They put them in an untenable situation, with limited resources, and effective rules of engagement driven by politics not by war time necessity. And then the dying starts both military and civilian. This gave a lot of latitude the piece of garbage Taliban. Then again it is HBO with a left-leaning business model. Make no mistake, the Taliban and Isis are monsters of evil. That is exactly why all of those people, thousands upon thousands were trying to escape the country. This is a clear example of how these places will remain Third World countries in a time of unprecedented modern technology everywhere. Tough situation. I could care less about the Taliban, but I feel so bad for the Marines who had to deal with this untenable situation. And our politicians stood back and did nothing.

Its a good doc... worth watching... but slight BS at the end... it does not state that days later the airport was open again and 30 days later it was working better than under US control... it makes it seem this was all justified.. a few comments about the Tali being bad... the truth is it was all unnecessary, panic. Just mad bad and sad. It shows the US in truth as brave, trying hard and human.. but also ignorant fearful and badly managed.. they dont seem to understand what is happening & yet its a mess they caused.. the human side is horrific and in fact just touches the tip of the reality.... this is a good access point.. but further education would be required..... the US is at times at its best; kind, Human and proffessional.. but mostly at its worse. The real victims on show here were the the poor people in the queues of death and those Marines that witnessed it.