As soon as the Taliban fighters took over Afghanistan, images of people clinging to the US aircraft went viral as they flew out from the country.
This reminded the people of a similar situation that was witnessed after the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975.
Another image that shows a helicopter of US diplomats fleeing Saigon and Afghanistan respectively also caught the eye of many curious residents.
RELATED STORY: Pope Francis seeks prayers for Afghanistan
The Filipino Times looks into the similarities and differences between the two developments:
• The fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975 had marked the end of the Vietnam War and became an enduring symbol of defeat after thousands of Americans and their Vietnamese allies were airlifted out of the city on helicopters.
• US authorities, including President Joe Biden, had suggested that it was not possible for the Taliban to take over entire Afghanistan and the government forces were adequate in number to defeat any such moves.
• But the way the US withdrew from the country has drawn widespread criticism. However, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected any comparisons between Afghanistan and North Vietnam, saying: “This is manifestly not Saigon.”
• Images have emerged that show hundreds of Afghans packed into a US military cargo plane, in a desperate attempt to flee Kabul after the fall of the capital to the Taliban.
• A picture obtained by US defense and security news site Defense One is believed to show 640 people crammed into a C-17 Globemaster III, among the highest number of people ever carried in such an aircraft.
• Comparisons were quickly drawn to photos that had immortalized America’s defeat in Vietnam showing evacuees boarding a helicopter on the roof of a building that had spread fast on social networks.
• Last month Joe Biden, when asked if he saw any parallels between the US withdrawals from Vietnam and Afghanistan, had said, “None whatsoever, zero.”
• “The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable,” Biden had added.
United States President Joe Biden is standing by his decision to withdraw the American troops in Afghanistan amid the chaos of the Taliban take over.
Biden said that he made the right call to pull American troops out of Afghanistan but the Taliban’s swift seizure of Kabul unfolded faster than expected.
READ ON: WATCH: American stuck in Afghanistan recalls chaos at Kabul airport
“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.
The US President then pin the blame on Afghan officials – including former President Ashraf Ghani for committing that they will fight insurgencies. (AW)
