Republican report details Biden administration failings in Afghanistan

For Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Centre for a New American Security's Indo-Pacific Security Programme, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will haunt Mr Biden for a long time to come.

"Biden’s callous remarks last August berating the Afghan forces, with whom the US had fought and died for 20 years, were off-putting for Americans, especially US servicemembers and their families," she told The National.

"No American wants a US war to end in that manner and then listen to the president castigate our allies after having pulled the rug out from under them."

Still, she said the July 31 strike against Zawahiri vindicates to a large degree Mr Biden’s claim that the US can address terrorist threats without having troops in Afghanistan.

She said Mr Biden could help redeem his reputation if his administration was seen to be doing more to stand up for Afghan civil society and the rights of women and girls. In the year since taking power, the Taliban have dropped any pretence they would support girls' education and women have once again been forced to cover their faces.

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