CNN's Clarissa Ward tells Colbert the Taliban believes the Kabul airport chaos 'looks really bad for them'

The Biden administration is getting heavy bipartisan criticism for the harried U.S. evacuation of Kabul after a faster-than-expected Taliban occupation of the Afghan capital, and CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward told The Late Show's Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night that Afghans are angry over America's manner of exit, too.

"You know, I think this is a really important point to clarify," Ward said. "The Afghans that I have spoken to do not blame America for withdrawing from Afghanistan. They did not expect America to continue to fight another country's war for decades more, and they understand fully that Afghan people must assume responsibility of their own country. Where the bitterness, where the sadness, where the fear comes from is the manner in which this withdrawal was executed, the chaos of it, the hurried nature of it, the fact that more concessions weren't extracted from the Taliban during those negotiations" in 2020.

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Even the Taliban was shocked at the speed with which they overran Afghanistan, "often without a shot fired, Stephen, and Afghan forces just melting away," Ward said. But a day after Kabul residents suddenly "woke up in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, forever changed," the streets were busier on Tuesday, the veneer of quasi-normality cracked when you notice "there's no women on the streets." At the same time, "it was amazing" watching younger Afghan journalists pepper the Taliban spokesman with tough questions at his first-ever press conference," she said. "You know, the Taliban, it remains to be seen whether or not they have changed, but the Afghan people have changed and they are going to stand up for what they believe in."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.