Getty image/AFP/Montage HuffPost
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CONFLICT – Of those images that mark History. As the Taliban began their siege of Kabul in Afghanistan this weekend, an Associated Press photo showing an American helicopter evacuating nationals from the capital toured social networks.
Faced with the imminent resumption of power by the Taliban insurgents, Joe Biden’s decision to maintain the withdrawal of American troops is fiercely criticized. And many are those who draw the parallel between the photo taken in Afghanistan this weekend, and the fall of Saigon in Vietnam at the end of April 1975.
“History is repeating itself”, “like an air of déjà vu,” commented Internet users, relaying a famous snapshot taken during the helicopter evacuation of civilians from the American embassy in Vietnam on April 29, 1975, facing to the advance of the People’s Army.
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Two iconic images clicked 45 years apart. The US Embassy staff fleeing from Saigon (top) and Kabul (bottom).
Never trust a friend who leaves you saying he’ll be back – Old Vietnamese saying. pic.twitter.com/AIItm8aReA
– Anand Ranganathan (ARanganathan72) August 15, 2021
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But the comparison isn’t limited to social media, or even the Republican opposition in Washington. “It’s Vietnam in all its aspects,” the representative of a NATO member state told AFP, alluding to the specter of the fall of Saigon.
Already on Twitter Friday, the former minister of Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, saw the specter of the Vietnamese symbol dawning.
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Anyone else notice that Kabul is starting to resemble Saigon in April 1975?
– Robert Reich (@RBReich) August 13, 2021
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“Anyone else notice that Kabul starts to look like Saigon in April 1975?”
The Biden administration is trying for its part to defuse the emerging controversy by denying any parallel. The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken on Sunday rejected any comparison, reaffirming that the United States had “reached the objectives” of the war in Afghanistan. “This is not Saigon,” he said. We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with a mission and that mission was to settle the scores of those who attacked us on 9/11. We have accomplished this mission ”.
Staff from the US Embassy in Kabul were rushed to the airport in the Afghan capital, where thousands of US troops were dispatched.
See also on The HuffPost: In Kabul, Afghans prepare for the arrival of the Taliban
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