GZERO World Clips

US Afghanistan withdrawal: a “digital Dunkirk”

US Afghanistan Withdrawal: a “Digital Dunkirk” | GZERO World

Could the US have done a better job at getting out of Afghanistan?

Certainly, says former US marine and CIA officer Elliot Ackerman, who recalls how calls for an evacuation plan fell on deaf ears in the Pentagon and the White House. Expediting the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghan allies could have been handled better as well.

The problem, he tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, is that America thought it'd have a bit of time before the Taliban took over. That was the wrong call.

And now it's much harder to get Afghans out with no presence or networks inside the country.

Watch the GZERO World episode: The fallout from US Afghanistan withdrawal: a Marine's perspective

More For You

Women prepare a makeshift memorial in tribute to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a street, after he was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Over the weekend, the United States and Israel pulled off one of the most operationally impressive military campaigns in recent memory.