当宣布所有美国军队已经离开时阿富汗总结美国在那里的军事地面存在——20年后，美国最长的战争结束了——这个词不是来自总统乔·拜登，谁定的最后期限，却由最高将领督办着仓促而危险的撤离。
美国中央司令部司令弗兰克·麦肯齐将军在佛罗里达州坦帕市麦克迪尔空军基地的总部接受记者采访。
他出现在五角大楼简报室的电视屏幕上说:“我在这里宣布我们完成从阿富汗的撤军，并结束撤离美国公民、第三国国民和弱势阿富汗人的军事任务。
小肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军说:“今晚的撤军不仅标志着撤军军事部分的结束，也标志着2001年9月11日之后不久在阿富汗开始的近20年使命的结束。”。https://t.co/dpSzkC2n0kpic.twitter.com/kqOQtNegIV
—美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2021年8月30日
为了纪念这一历史时刻，麦肯齐指出了最后一架美国军用飞机在这片土地上清理天空的准确时间，美国在这片土地上花费了大量的时间、金钱，最重要的是美国人的鲜血。
他说:“最后一架C-17今天下午在东海岸时间下午3点29分从喀布尔机场起飞，最后一架有人驾驶的飞机现在正在阿富汗上空清理空域，”这将是喀布尔午夜前的一分钟。
“今晚的撤军不仅标志着撤离军事部分的结束，也标志着2001年9月11日之后不久在阿富汗开始的近20年使命的结束。这是一个将奥萨马·本·拉登绳之以法的任务，还有许多基地组织的同谋者，这不是一个廉价的任务，”他说。
他说，美国人的生命损失是2461名美国军人死亡，2万多人受伤，其中包括周四在喀布尔哈米德·卡尔扎伊国际机场外发生的ISIS-K自杀式炸弹袭击中丧生的13名美国军人和至少20人受伤。
“我说的任何一句话都无法表达那些服役者的全部牺牲和成就，也无法表达他们此刻的情感。但我会说，我为我和我的儿子都参与其中感到骄傲，”麦肯齐说。
虽然军方为没有留下一个人而自豪，但麦肯齐说，想离开的“非常低的数百”美国人无法到达机场。
麦肯齐说:“这种离开有很多令人心碎的事情。“我们没有让我们想出去的人都出去。但是我认为如果我们再呆十天，我们就不能让所有想出去的人都出去了。这是一个艰难的局面，”麦肯齐说。
他说，在最后起飞的五次航班中，没有一个美国人登机。他说，美国继续向仍在那里的美国人伸出援助之手，军方“准备让他们加入进来”，但没有一个人成功。
他说:“虽然军事撤离已经完成，但确保更多想离开的美国公民和阿富汗人的外交任务仍在继续。
现在还不清楚美军撤离后的画面会是什么样子。麦肯齐重申，美国正在与国际伙伴合作，向塔利班施压，以确保那些想离开的人能够安全通过，但塔利班在最近的新闻发布会上也表示，他们不希望阿富汗人把自己的才能带出国。
拜登长期以来一直反对阿富汗战争，他坚持在本月底之前撤军的决定，因为美国自9·11袭击事件以来已经接近20年，尽管国会议员和其他盟国施压要求延长任务期限。
美国中央司令部司令小肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军在谈到美国从阿富汗撤军时说:“这不是一个廉价的任务。代价是2461名美国军人和平民死亡，2万多人受伤。”https://t.co/UZ1aUo2vRppic.twitter.com/fh7wDUSqRJ
—美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2021年8月30日
周一，总统没有发表讲话，而是在麦肯齐发表讲话后发表了一份书面声明，感谢指挥官和服役人员如期完成撤军，“没有造成更多美国人的生命损失”，并称赞撤离努力是“美国历史上最大的空运。”
他说，他将于周二向美国人民发表讲话，说明他不延长美军存在的决定。
他在声明中说:“就目前而言，我将报告说，按照计划结束我们的空运任务是参谋长联席会议和我们在当地的所有指挥官的一致建议，”尽管军方领导人今年早些时候游说拜登在阿富汗留下一支剩余的美国部队来支持阿富汗军队和政府。
他最后列出了在上周袭击中的13名服务人员的名字，“他们上周为了拯救成千上万人而献出了生命。”
美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯星期一在阿富汗问题上与盟国举行虚拟会议后发表讲话，宣布美国驻喀布尔大使馆迁至卡塔尔多哈。
“美国与阿富汗接触的新篇章已经开始，我们将以外交手段引领这一篇章。军事使命已经结束，新的外交使命已经开始，”他说。
布林肯说，由于安全威胁，美国外交官的退出是“谨慎”的做法。
布林肯宣布，美国前驻阿富汗大使约翰·巴斯(John Bass)将在未来几周领导一项持续的努力，将美国人、阿富汗人和其他外国人从阿富汗撤出。
布林肯说:“我们将继续不懈努力，帮助美国人、外国人和阿富汗人离开阿富汗，如果他们愿意的话。”。
总的来说，布林肯说，他认为仍有“一小部分美国人——200岁以下，可能接近100岁——留在阿富汗并想离开。”
布林肯说，即使对于那些表示想留下的人，如果他们改变主意，美国仍将努力让他们离开。
他还向与美国一起工作的阿富汗人保证，如果他们想离开，但无法离开，美国将继续努力帮助他们。
“我们对他们的承诺没有期限，”他说。
他确实降低了期望值。
“我们不幻想这一切会很容易，”布林肯说。“还是迅猛者。这将是一个与刚刚结束的疏散完全不同的阶段。应对一系列新的挑战需要时间。”
在五角大楼宣布这一消息后，共和党议员抨击拜登尽管没有让所有美国人与R-Neb参议员本·萨塞(Ben Sasse)一起撤离，但还是撤军了，称撤离是“国家的耻辱”，是“拜登总统懦弱无能的直接结果。”
参议院外交关系委员会成员、共和党参议员比尔·哈格蒂也在一份声明中表示，拜登“将永远被铭记，因为他将美国公民和美国合法永久居民留在阿富汗，并在阿富汗受到伤害。”
战争的结束
在最后几天，当美国准备撤军时，塔利班于8月15日夺取并占领了喀布尔的总统府，此前阿富汗总统阿什拉夫·加尼逃离祖国前往阿拉伯联合酋长国，导致阿富汗政府垮台。
五角大楼派出了6000人的部队，美国驻喀布尔大使馆被疏散，混乱已经笼罩了首都，给这场持续了20年的战争画上了一个可怕的句号。
麦肯齐周一表示，自8月14日以来，美国军用飞机已经从哈米德·卡尔扎伊国际机场疏散了7.9万多名平民，其中包括6000名美国人和7.35万多名第三国国民和阿富汗平民，包括特殊移民签证持有者、领事人员、处境危险的阿富汗人及其家人。
美国和联军的飞机总共疏散了12.3万多名平民。
伊斯兰国(ISIS-K)是阿富汗伊斯兰国的附属组织，也是美国和塔利班的死敌，该组织声称对袭击美国军队负责，因为人们越来越担心战斗人员将迫使阿富汗爆发另一场内战。
上周末，美国袭击了阿富汗境内的两个ISIS-K目标，包括一名据称参与策划未来袭击的人。
一名阿富汗卫生官员报告说，在其中一次袭击中，就在美国将结束其持续时间最长的战争的几个小时前，至少有六名阿富汗平民丧生，其中包括四名儿童。
After 20 years, US ground troops leave Afghanistan, but Americans left behind
When it came to announcing that all U.S. troops had leftAfghanistan, concluding America's military ground presence there -- and after 20 years the end to America's longest war -- word came not from PresidentJoe Biden, who set the deadline, but from the top general overseeing the rushed and dangerous evacuation.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, spoke to reporters from his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida.
"I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals and vulnerable Afghans," he said, appearing on a television screen in the Pentagon Briefing Room.
"Tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001," Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., says.https://t.co/dpSzkC2n0kpic.twitter.com/kqOQtNegIV
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)August 30, 2021
To mark the moment for history, McKenzie noted the exact time the last U.S. military plane had cleared the skies over the land where the U.S. had spent so much time, money, and most of all, American blood.
"The last C-17 lifted off from Kabul airport this afternoon at 3:29 p.m. East Coast Time and the last manned aircraft is now clearing airspace above Afghanistan," he said, which would have one minute before midnight in Kabul.
"Tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after Sept. 11 2001. It's a mission that brought Osama Bin Laden to justice, along with many was Al Qaeda co-conspirators, and it was not -- it was not a cheap mission," he said.
The cost, in American lives, he said, was 2,461 U.S. service members killed and more than 20,000 wounded, including the 13 service members killed and at least 20 wounded in Thursday's ISIS-K suicide bomber attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
"No words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served, nor the emotions they're feeling at this moment. But I will say that I'm proud that both my son and I have been a part of it," McKenzie said.
And while the military prides itself on leaving no one behind, McKenzie said Americans in "the very low hundreds," who had wanted to leave, couldn't get to the airport.
"There is a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure," McKenzie said. "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we stayed another ten days, we would not get everybody out that wanted to get out. It's a tough situation," McKenzie said.
He said that in the five final flights that took off, no Americans made it on board. The U.S. had continued to reach out to Americans still there, he said, and the military was "prepared to bring them on," but none made it.
"While the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional U.S. citizens and Afghans who want to leave continues," he said.
It's unclear what the evacuation picture will look like now that the U.S. military is gone. McKenzie repeated the U.S. is working with international partners to pressure the Taliban to ensure safe passage for those who want to leave, but the Taliban have also said at recent press conferences that they do not want Afghans to take their talents out of the country.
Biden, who has long opposed the war in Afghanistan, stuck to his decision to withdraw troops by the end of the month as the U.S. approaches 20 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, despite pressure from lawmakers and other allied nations to extend the mission.
Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., U.S. CENTCOM commander, on U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan: "It was not a cheap mission. The cost was 2,461 U.S. service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured."https://t.co/UZ1aUo2vRppic.twitter.com/fh7wDUSqRJ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)August 30, 2021
The president did not speak on Monday, instead releasing a written statement following McKenzie's remarks thanking commanders and service members for completing the withdrawal on schedule and "with no further loss of American lives" and praising the evacuation effort as "the largest airlift in US history."
He said he would address the American people on Tuesday on his decision not to extend the U.S. military's presence.
"For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned," he said in the statement, although military leaders had lobbied Biden earlier this year to leave a residual U.S. force in Afghanistan to support the Afghan army and government.
He closed by listing the names of the 13 service members in last week's attack "who lost their lives last week to save tens of thousands."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in remarks Monday following a virtual meeting with allied nations on Afghanistan, announced the U.S. Embassy in Kabul was moved to Doha, Qatar.
"A new chapter of America's engagement with Afghanistan has begun -- one in which we'll lead with diplomacy. The military mission has ended, new diplomatic mission has begun," he said.
Blinken said that the exit of U.S. diplomats was the "prudent" step to take because of the security threat.
Ambassador John Bass -- the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan who returned to Kabul to oversee the evacuation operation -- will lead an ongoing effort to get Americans, Afghans and other foreigners out of Afghanistan in the weeks to come, Blinken announced.
"We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans leave Afghanistan if they choose," Blinken said.
Overall, Blinken said he believes there is still a "small number of Americans -- under 200, and likely closer to 100 -- who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave."
Even for those who have said they want to stay, Blinken said, the U.S. would still work to get them out if they changed their minds.
He also pledged to the Afghans who worked alongside the U.S., who wanted to leave but were unable to get out, the U.S. would continue to try to help them.
"Our commitment to them has no deadline," he said.
He did temper expectations.
"We have no illusion that any of this will be easy," Blinken said. "Or rapid. This will be an entirely different phase from the evacuation that just concluded. It will take time to work through a new set of challenges."
Following the Pentagon's announcement, GOP lawmakers blasted Biden for withdrawing troops despite not having all Americans evacuated with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., calling the evacuation a "national disgrace" and a "direct result of President Biden's cowardice and incompetence."
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said in a statement that Biden "will forever be remembered for leaving American citizens and U.S. legal permanent residents behind and in harm's way in Afghanistan."
The end of the war
In the final days, as the U.S. was set to withdraw forces, the Taliban seized and overtook the presidential palace in Kabul on Aug. 15 after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled his home country for the United Arab Emirates, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government.
The Pentagon sent in 6,000 troops, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul was evacuated and chaos has since enveloped the capital city, bringing the 20-year war to a grim end.
Since Aug. 14, U.S. military aircraft have evacuated more than 79,000 civiliansfrom Hamid Karzai International Airport, including 6,000 Americans and more than 73,500 third-country nationals and Afghan civilians, including Special Immigrant Visa holders, consular staff, at-risk Afghans and their families, McKenzie said on Monday.
In total, U.S. and coalition aircraft combined to evacuate more than 123,000 civilians.
ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State in Afghanistan and a sworn enemy of both the U.S. and the Taliban, claimed responsibility for attacks on American forces amid heightened fears fighters will force Afghanistan to break out into another civil war.
Over the weekend, the U.S. struck two ISIS-K targets in Afghanistan, including a person it said was involved in planning future attacks.
An Afghan health official reported that in one of those strikes, just hours before the U.S. would end its longest war, at least six Afghan civilians were also killed, including four children.
