the parallels between the evacuations of Saigon and Kabul

Franciszek Ogierman

The Taliban victory in Afghanistan was one of the most widely discussed topics this summer, as thousands of people tried to flee the country in fear of the atrocities that would come with the new Taliban government. The Americans managed to evacuate over a hundred twenty thousand people from the Afghan capital after its fall on August 15. The American’s inability to evacuate all the people that they collaborated with during the war is a subject of harsh criticism all over the world. This withdrawal of the US Army devastated many lives; however, this was not the first operation of this nature and consequence in American history. 

A similar unexpected early surrender of a capital city and a hasty evacuation of friendly citizens happened in Saigon in 1975. It was the end of another bloody war that the United States participated in – the Vietnam war, a war between two Vietnamese states, North Vietnam and South Vietnam, which was backed by the USA. The war was quite similar to the one in Afghanistan – it was fought far from American soil and US soldiers had to face fighting in tough terrain against the enemy’s guerilla tactics. The fall of the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, happened way sooner than expected, as the South Vietnamese army was stronger than the one of North Vietnam; however, due to poor management and incompetent command, Saigon fell in April 1975. 

As North Vietnamese troops approached the southern capital, Americans began Operation Frequent Wind which was supposed to evacuate all Americans and friendly Vietnamese people from the besieged city. The initial spot of evacuation was supposed to be a South Vietnamese air base; however, it was fired upon by enemy artillery and the new evacuation points were the American Defense Attaché compound and the American embassy. Hundreds of desperate Vietnamese nationals gathered in front of the American Embassy gate, as they were trying to save their lives from the political repercussions of the communist regime which was to come to South Vietnam after Saigon’s defeat.  Twenty four CIA helicopters were deployed, as one helicopter landed on the embassy’s roof every ten minutes. The Americans were short of time because North Vietnamese troops were about to enter the city. In the span of two days, the Americans managed to evacuate over 7,000 people. This may be regarded as a success; however, many individuals were not that lucky and had to stay in Saigon and watch their freedom be taken from them. 

One can easily notice the similarities between Saigon in 1975 and Kabul in 2021. The Americans did everything they could in order to evacuate as many people as possible but this still was not enough for many Afghans or Vietnamese people. It clearly shows that history repeats itself and raises the question: Why did the USA not learn from its blunders during Vietnam?