Amid criticism, Joe Biden received the remains of 13 US servicemen killed in Afghanistan | Ceremony of the US President at a military base

United States President Joe Biden received the remains of 13 soldiers killed in Thursday’s attack at Kabul airport in a solemn ceremony at a military base, amid strong criticism from the opposition for its handling of the Afghan crisis. The suicide bombing attack claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) group claimed more than 170 lives and was the deadliest launched in Afghanistan against Pentagon forces since 2011.. In retaliation on Saturday, the United States carried out a drone attack in Afghanistan, killing two ISIS operatives. And while the presidential couple was Sunday with the families of fallen military personnel, the Pentagon announced the destruction of a vehicle in Kabul “Eliminate an imminent threat from the Islamic State” against the airport.

One after the other, the coffins of the young American soldiers were deposited on the runway of the airport of the base. member of Dover, Delaware, in front of the President and his wife Jill. Hand on heart, the president watched the descent of each of the coffins carried by the military towards dark vehicles, sometimes lowering his head in meditation.

On a cloudy day with a little drizzle, the presidential couple dressed in black were accompanied by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin; the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; the Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley; and other senior military officials. Just before the ceremony, the delegation boarded the massive C-17 military plane carrying the 13 coffins for a short private funeral prayer, the White House reported. Two of the thirteen families had requested that the descent of the remains of their respective relatives not be filmed.

As the country’s commander-in-chief, Biden attended the “solemn transfer,” his first since joining the White House in January this year., to remind you of the consequences of your decisions based. His predecessor Donald Trump (2017-2021) participated four and Barack Obama (2009-2017), two.

Five of the 13 soldiers killed Thursday in Kabul were 20 years old. The case of a 23-year-old girl killed in the bombing it aroused a lot of emotion in the country. A week before the attack, she was photographed with a baby in her arms during the chaotic evacuation operations at Kabul airport.

The deceased also included a 20-year-old sailor from Wyoming who was going to be a dad in three weeks. They were all children when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 prevent the Taliban regime from continuing to provide refuge to Al-Qaeda terrorists and persecute Osama bin Laden, the “mastermind” behind the September 11 attacks of that year.

Last Thursday, an ISIS fighter detonated a vest with explosives as he passed security checks at one of the entrances to Kabul airport., the so-called Abbey Gate, where thousands of people gathered in the hope of being able to flee the Taliban on one of the American flights. After this explosion, there was another armed attack by jihadists in the region, according to the Pentagon.

The two attacks left at least 170 dead and 150 injuredsources close to the Taliban said. For its part, the Pentagon has reported the death of 13 American soldiers and 18 wounded.

“One of the worst decisions”

The base in Dover, about two hours from Washington, has been synonymous in the American mind for decades with the heartbreaking return of fallen servicemen. These poignant moments have sometimes tainted the image of US presidents waging unpopular wars, to the point that some ceremonies are closed to the media.

In power since last January, Biden saw how popular his, relatively stable so far, fell below 50 percent after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban in mid-August. He was also affected by the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic due to the Delta variant.

Some 114,400 people, including nearly 5,500 US citizens, have been evacuated from Afghanistan by a massive airlift since August 14.. But Republicans question Biden harshly for handling this evacuation.

“It is one of the worst foreign policy decisions in US history.”the influential Republican leader in the Senate sacked on Sunday, Mitch mcconnell. “Much worse than Saigon (…) chen we left Saigon, there were no more Vietnamese terrorists planning to attack us here on our soil. “the senator told Fox that he was already against the withdrawal negotiated in 2020 by then Republican President Donald Trump with the Taliban.

Ben sasse, another Republican senator, could not hide his anger at the Democratic president on Sunday morning in an interview on ABC. “Biden put our troops at risk because he didn’t have an evacuation plan.”, accused Sasse and said the country is “in danger because the president was incredibly weak when he left the Bagram base” in July, until then the nerve center of the international coalition’s operations, 50 kilometers north of Kabul.