The rapidity with which Taliban forces took control of provincial capitals over the past few weeks has left thousands of Afghans who had assisted U.S. forces in the region at risk, in scenes that bring to mind the fall of Saigon when the United States left Vietnam.
The Taliban swept into Kabul on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. President Joe Biden said the government that the United States had spent 20 years supporting unraveled quicker than he had anticipated, but he took full responsibility for the decision to continue former President Donald Trump’s policy of withdrawing U.S. troops from the 20-year-old conflict. Trump had planned to complete the withdrawal by May, but Biden extended the deadline to Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States.
Biden said the mission in Afghanistan to seek out the terrorists responsible for 9/11 was “never supposed to be nation-building,” and he now wants to focus on stopping terrorist attacks at home. “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” Biden said.
By Monday, the first full day of Taliban rule across Afghanistan, there were no women in the streets of Kabul. Taliban gunmen patrolled the city, confiscated guns from security guards and urging shopkeepers and government employees to return to work.
Western nations raced to airlift their own citizens out of the country while also seeking to evacuate many of the Afghans who had helped them. Members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation said they were particularly worried about women and girls in Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in control.
“There is plenty that lawmakers disagree on with respect to withdrawal from Afghanistan,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, “but we all agree that the United States must evacuate vulnerable Afghans immediately. The President reaffirmed this today and I urge his administration to do everything possible to evacuate them and their families and deal with the bureaucracy later. Lives are on the line.”
Colorado Experiences Record Low Water Levels
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has ordered the first tier of water reductions due to the historic drought and low runoff conditions in the Colorado River, leading to Lake Mead and Lake Powell having record-low water levels. The reductions are scheduled to begin on January 1.
"[D]ownstream releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam will be reduced in 2022 due to declining reservoir levels," the Bureau said in its latest report on the drought.
Lake Mead provides water to roughly 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico, according to the National Park Service. Arizona will see an 18 percent reduction in supply from the Colorado River during tier 1, primarily impacting agriculture. Nevada will face a 7 percent reduction, but because the state had already reduced its deliveries, no change is expected due to the shortage, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
There will be additional cuts if Lake Mead continues to fall.
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