The Latest: Putin says US achieved 'zero' in Afghanistan

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the United States’ engagement successful Afghanistan, charging that its 20-year-long subject beingness successful the state has achieved “zero.”

Putin said Wednesday that for 20 years, the U.S. subject successful Afghanistan “was trying ... to civilize the radical who unrecorded there, to present their norms and standards of beingness successful the broadest consciousness of the word, including the governmental enactment of society.”

“The effect is sheer tragedies, sheer losses, some for those who were doing that -- the U.S. -- and much truthful for the radical who unrecorded successful Afghanistan. A zero result, if not negative,” Putin said.

The Russian president added that “it’s intolerable to enforce thing from outside” and that “if idiosyncratic does thing to someone, they should gully connected the history, the culture, the beingness doctrine of these radical successful the broadest consciousness of the word, they should dainty their traditions with respect.”

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Moscow, which fought a 10-year warfare successful Afghanistan that ended with the Soviet troops’ withdrawal successful 1989, has made a diplomatic comeback successful the state arsenic a mediator implicit the past fewer years. Russia has reached retired to the feuding Afghan factions, including the Taliban — adjacent though it has labeled them a violent organization.

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MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

— Victorious Taliban absorption connected governing aft US withdrawal

— In Kabul, immoderate fearfulness economical collapse much than Taliban fist

— Analysis: War is implicit but not Biden’s Afghanistan challenges

— As US subject leaves Kabul, many Americans, Afghans remain

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— Last troops exit Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war

— Qatar emerges arsenic cardinal player successful Afghanistan aft US pullout

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— Find much AP sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

MADRID — Pope Francis has criticized the West’s caller engagement successful Afghanistan arsenic an outsider’s effort to enforce ideology — though he’s done truthful by citing Russia’s Vladimir Putin portion reasoning helium was quoting Germany’s Angela Merkel.

In a vigor interrogation aired Wednesday, Pope Francis was asked astir the caller governmental representation taking signifier successful Afghanistan aft the United States and its allies withdrew from the Taliban-controlled state aft 20 years of war. The pope said helium would reply utilizing a punctuation that helium attributed to the German chancellor, who helium described arsenic “one of the world’s top governmental figures.”

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“It’s indispensable to halt the irresponsible argumentation of enforcing its ain values connected others and attempts to physique ideology successful different countries based connected extracurricular models without taking into relationship historic, taste and spiritual issues and afloat ignoring different people’s traditions,” the pope said, utilizing his ain translation into Spanish.

But the punctuation was pronounced past period by the Russian president successful the beingness of Merkel, during her sojourn of the German to Moscow.

During the gathering connected Aug. 20, Putin scathingly criticized the West implicit Afghanistan, saying that the Taliban’s accelerated expanse implicit the state has shown the futility of Western attempts to enforce its ain imaginativeness of democracy. Instead, Merkel urged Russia to usage its contacts with the Taliban to property for Afghan citizens who helped Germany to beryllium allowed to permission Afghanistan.

The interrogation with Spain’s Cadena COPE took spot astatine the Vatican precocious past week. The vigor presumption owned by Spain’s Catholic bishops’ league aired the speech connected Wednesday and said that its contented had been vetted by the pope himself.

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Francis besides said determination that “all eventualities were not taken into account” successful the departure of Western allies from Afghanistan.

“I don’t cognize if determination volition beryllium immoderate revision (of what happened during the withdrawal), but determination was overmuch deceiving from the caller authorities (of Afghanistan),” said the Pope. “Either that oregon conscionable excessively overmuch ingenuity. Otherwise, I don’t understand.”

Francis called for Christians crossed the satellite to prosecute successful “prayer, penance and fasting” successful the look of events successful Afghanistan.

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WASHINGTON — The president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reflected connected the Afghanistan war’s extremity and delivered an affectional tribute Tuesday to the 13 work members killed by a termination bombing past week.

Gen. Mark Milley said the military’s counterterrorism efforts implicit the past 20 years and the evacuation of 124,000 radical from Afghanistan successful the past 20 days are the bequest of U.S. work members.

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In his words, “We’re present closing a section successful our nation’s history.”

Milley said the 11 Marines, 1 worker and 1 Navy corpsman who died successful the termination bombing “gave their tomorrows for the tomorrows of 124,000 people.”

His comments came during the status ceremonial for Gen. Robert Abrams, who astir precocious commanded U.S. Forces Korea. Both men commanded troops successful Afghanistan.

Milley called it “an incredibly affectional day,” adding: “All of america are conflicted with feelings of symptom and anger, sorrow and sadness, combined with pridefulness and resilience. But 1 happening I americium definite of, for immoderate soldier, sailor, airman oregon Marine and their families, your work mattered. It was not successful vain.”

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says helium chose to extremity the warfare successful Afghanistan successful bid to absorption the nation’s defenses connected different information problems, including China and Russia.

Addressing the federation Tuesday from the White House connected the time aft the past U.S. troops near Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war, Biden said helium volition sharpen the absorption of U.S. overseas argumentation by concentrating connected threats specified arsenic cyberattack and the proliferation of atomic limb technologies.

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He vows to proceed counterterrorism operations, including against immoderate threats emanating from Afghanistan. He says this tin beryllium done with forces based extracurricular of Afghanistan.

The president besides mentioned the Islamic State extremist group’s Afghanistan affiliate, which conducted a termination bombing astatine the Kabul airdrome connected Aug. 26 that killed 13 American work members and dozens of Afghan civilians. Biden said, “We are not done with you yet.”

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is defending his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the frantic last evacuation from Kabul airport.

In remarks astatine the White House connected Tuesday, Biden said the U.S. authorities had reached retired 19 times since March — anterior to his nationalist announcement that helium was going to extremity the U.S. warfare — to promote each American citizens successful Afghanistan to leave. He acknowledged that 100 to 200 were incapable to get retired erstwhile the airlift ended Monday.

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Biden asserted that his medication was acceptable erstwhile the U.S.-backed authorities successful Kabul collapsed successful mid-August and the Taliban took over. But the airlift that began Aug. 14 has been heavy criticized by galore arsenic initially unorganized and chaotic.

Biden said that 5,500 Americans yet got out, and that “arrangements” volition beryllium made to get the remaining Americans retired if they truthful choose.

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