how many nukes is too many new america has in many ways driven the arms race parties are much more like the british parties down to the there are fewer regulations to own a tiger than their our own a dog. how can this be happening? your weekly take on us politics and, and that's the bottom line. ah . awe. at the last us military flight leaves up got us down the taliban and fire guns into the air to celebrate their full takeover of the country. at 7 30 am and the capital cobble the the live pictures. look in the city now under complete taliban control. ah,

i'm down, jordan, this is out there. a lie from coming up be k. i'll take us departure from afghanistan brings to him a long and sometimes dog, 20 a presence in the country. i want to commend are out standing who worked around the clock and around the world to coordinate the operation. and later, most of the us state of louisiana, i still without power off to a strong storm, blows through. ah, we begin in afghanistan, where for the 1st time in 20 years, the country's waking up without a u. s. military presence. american troops left campbell several hours ago and while the taliban is celebrating what it calls for independence, there are questions about what i've got to start. look like under a new government. rub mcbride reports from kind of the, the final departure of the us military off the 20 years. and the taliban

adversaries celebrate across capital from multiple guns of all sizes. a description, automatic gunfire lit up the night sky in a rolling thunder. threw out monday as the evacuation from the airport continued speculation mounted about when the us would complete their withdraw. patrolling across, circled over, cobbled together with a b $52.00 bomber as a steady stream of transport. planes lumbered off out of afghanistan. then soon after midnight, local time on august 31st, the day sets as the deadline for the u. s. departure, the cross sounds died away. and as we were on air, would began to spread that the final us aircraft had already lifted off and was on its way home. that's an awful lot of speculation here at the moment that the lot of

chatter that we may be seeing. finally, the end of this evacuation exercise, and if that is the case, that is the end of the us military involvement and that kind of done. soon afterwards came the official word from the u. s. pentagon of the end of america's longest war. i'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from afghanistan in the end of the military mission to evacuate. american citizens are country nationals and vulnerable afghans. for the 1st time in 2 decades. there are no us soldiers on afghan soil to the delight of the taliban. many still disbelieving the pace of developments that has brought about this victory the last time god, we are here now in control of the potent without any problems. thank god. but for many afghans, the fear of what the u. s. departure means leaving them under

a future taliban government. public? cried al jazeera couple. well, let's get more now on this historic and event in a moment. we'll go to whitehouse, correspondent, kimberly hockey, but 1st to charlie stratford in campbell. so charlie afghanistan wakes up this morning without that american military presence talk a through be dramatic events of the past you out. well, yes, really quite incredible scenes here in, in carnival resort in robes package last night. the gun fire, we initially thought started round about $1230.00. we initially thought it was possibly some sort of a tank or taliban fighting. i should like to certainly in the wake of those kind of attacks from see it in the last few days, but then it became a habit, a gun fight was pointing into the sky and it was literally scott, a line of cobble was lit up with rage a trace of fire. there seemed to be very few people on the streets,

but obviously to talk about very intent on showing what they describe and celebrating what they describe as a victory over foreign powers. a victory that is won them in their words, independence. it's all about of all we're always sort of framed this conflicts as a battle for independence, a battle for sovereignty. and for them, this is, this is an incredibly historical day. but of course, this morning we're not hearing these planes that we heard the why to jets overhead or yesterday, which we believed were, were us nato planes. and trying to get eyes on the ground for full potential high school attacks. of course, the plane sparing people out of the country are no longer heard as well. but there are huge questions now that have to be answered by really haven't just step up

an act on some of these commitments that is says that it is promised not only african people, but the world. if indeed is he's going to try. if he's going to be in any way successful in pulling this country out of an incredible crisis on every level, whether be political security level or economic. huge challenge ahead for the new leaders of this country. yeah, charlie and it does the question. what about the afghan people themselves? i mean many remain fearful of the taliban. what do they make of the american exit on what of their hopes for the future chinese but it depends on who you speak to. it's really important to say that the taliban do have support in afghanistan. they have a base of support that was deeply critical of the anti though the form of government accusing it of being corrupt and unable to manage the country's affairs. so of course taliban supporters will get the child by the benefit of the doubt and today

will be seen as a victory day, a new chapter. and they will be guardedly if you like, optimistic. however, there is the other large demographic that you better say maybe more, more often here in cobble, which are incredibly anxious indeed afraid they see weston action here. the last 20 years, the u. s. nato efforts, they say that is being an absolute failure. and they accused the west of basically not doing enough to support the previous government, not doing enough to support the i n a, the afghan national army. they are afraid of what they perceive as potentially being reprisals as being a reversion to what they remember of the old days of the child. the child of, i'm very keen to tell them in the world that they've changed and that they're all going to be things like, you know, an inclusive government. that there will be no reprisals against people who worked

with western organizations or nato forces that people will still be able leave the country if they have the necessary paperwork when the airport opens. but many of these people will tell you that. yeah, they feel very let down in any dates. suddenly using words like butt trail and collective punishment. all right, to cha, life i say in the afghan capital combo charlie, thank you. what you effect of state, anthony blink, and says if working with a new afghan government will serve his country's national interest, washington will do it. gabe. it is on the has this report. after 20 years of war, america has gone from bombing the taliban to complimenting them. i can tell you this though, about what the taliban has done. they established a firm perimeter outside of the airfield to prevent people from coming on the airfield during our departure. and we worked that with them for a number of days, but they were actually very helpful and useful to us as we close down operations.

the u. s. military released this photo, they say is the last us commander on the ground cobble airport boarding. the last u. s. military flight out of afghanistan. in the past 2 weeks since capital fell, the taliban, 823000 civilians, and 6000 us citizens had been evacuated, making it the largest mass documentation undertaken by the military in us history. secretary of state antony, blinking, estimated under 200 us citizens were still in afghanistan, wanted to leave, but couldn't. and called on the taliban to live up to their pledge to allow them to do so. we will hold the taliban to which pledge to let people freely, depart, afghanistan. the taliban is committed to anyone with proper documents, leave the country in a safe in order to be mad. they said this privately and publicly, many times lincoln indicated to us would keep lines of communication open with the

taliban. but said it would do so from doha katara with a us which set up a diplomatic mission to cobble. the u. s. s. ended its presence in afghanistan, but not necessarily its involvement. but what would future u. s. involvement in afghanistan look like president joe biden is expected to address that very issue in his speech on tuesday. gabriel's ando al jazeera washington. well, our white house correspondent, kimberly hockey, joins of live now from washington. d. c. kimberly. so us secretary of state anthony blink. and they're talking earlier about how diplomacy will replace the military efforts in afghanistan. talk us through what more he had to say and what it actually means. right, well the secretary of state took to the airwaves of the united states to kind of convey to americans in the world. what that diplomatic engagement will look like.

and it is still a little bit unclear what the main point of the secretary state was. is that the taliban seeks legitimacy on the international stage. and in order to achieve that, it will have to be earned. this is the message that the secretary state delivered, but it's one that the administration has been really kind of trying to focus on in recent days. but i have to admit watching the, the worse than any sort of some of the reaction that we've seen already in the united states. there's a lot of skepticism by the american public with regard to whether or not the taliban can be trusted. in fact, the secretary of state as well as be your president at times have admitted that the taliban cannot be trusted in most cases. and so there are even members on capitol hill that also are very skeptical. you have to remember that americans are still reeling from those service members, deaths as well as african nationals who died in that,

that those blast very recently. and so as a result, there is some skepticism because they feel that the taliban let down america at that point. and so there's not a lot of hope that there will be that earned trust the secretary state was talking about in the future. yeah, kimberly and president biden's come on growing pressure criticism because of the k . i'll take us withdrawal. well, sort of longer term political for out. is the president likely to face? do you think well, it is going to be complicated for this president. that's why a lot is riding on his speech that he will be making to the american public and the coming hours because this is the opportunity for the president to kind of make the case that this was a success. because right now, that's not what americans are feeling. the problem for this president is his republican critics. we're never going to like what he did, but the problem is,

members of his own democratic party don't really like it either. they feel that this was rushed. they feel that the president broke down in terms of his promises that he did not keep the promise that everyone that wanted to get out would be able to get out. we now know that it's not the case and well, there are still information coming that those who are were left behind will still have the opportunity to, to leave if they want to. americans are feeling too confident about that. just as much as those that are left behind or feeling. so on that point there, there's that concern for this white house. so we expect that the president is going to try and make the case. this was the best of the bad options, and they really kind of presented, this is a binary choice, but to already that is being questioned. and the other point that we should make very quickly is for problem for this president or the optics. the pictures coming out of afghanistan and recent weeks have been bad. they're still remaining. bad americans are seeing the taliban wearing american uniforms carrying american

weapons, walking through airplane hangers with american helicopters. and even though the promises were made, that this would be dismantled, it would not be rendered effective. the picture seemed to tell the american public that they've been lied to yet again. so this is a problem for this president, one that he's going to have to try to explain, but it was already in a more wary public. it's unlikely he's going to be able to convince them with one speech, right. kimberly, how get life are there in washington? dc, kimberly thank and we'll have more on the developments in afghanistan. later here on al jazeera, we'll look back at the different strategies by the us during 20 is a war in a country. and in other news, a massive wildfire. and california threatens a resort town long enough to stay with ah, when freedom of the press is under threat in oh,

you just thought genuinely about your thoughts toward the bacon government step outside the mainstream. the has been a implement here just some of the access port shift the focus. the panoramic turned out to be a handy little pretext for the prime minister to clamp down on the press covering the waves. the news is covered the listening post on just one of the last remaining ancient forests, in se asia is a lifeline to hundreds of lumberjacks and drive. ah, we follow the treacherous journey as they walk through extreme condition together and transport the dangerous but precious cargo risk and get all borneo on al jazeera. oh,

the me welcome back. a quick amount of the top stories here. our, the last american troops that left cobbled mark in the end of 20 years of war in afghanistan. the last c, 17 transport plane took off just hours ago clearing. i've got a ton of them says the departure of us troops is on historic moments thing. i've done a song, has now gained food independence, celebrated gun firing, fireworks of been seen and heard across, comma and you, effective state. and me bring concerns if working with a new govern government will serve america national interest. washington would do it by no ministration has suspended embassy operation in afghanistan. for now. well,

the un security council has adopted a resolution to let people who want to leave afghanistan do so safely, but it's not known. if a ton of bomb will go along with this, the u. s. hopes, the resolution would protect people's rights, leave the country, no matter the reason, consistent with the right to leave any country including one's own, everybody must be allowed to safely leave afghanistan. for whatever reason, when ever they want, by air or by land. this is the utmost, this is of the utmost importance to us. and the case as the taliban must up whole commitments it's already made to ensure afghanistan doesn't become a breeding grounds on groups. african stone can never again become a safe haven for terrorists. we have condemned unequivocally the attack on cobble airport last week. and we reiterate our condolences and sympathy

to the bereaved and to the injured. a coordinated approach will be vital to counter any extremist threat emanating from afghanistan and we called on the taliban to uphold their commitments contained in the doe har agreement. while china and russia both abstained from that un resolution. let's get the reaction out of china now. katrina, you joins us from beijing, katrina, china as always, maintained some links with the taliban, regardless of who was in power. so i will basically be viewing the american exit and what's, what's china's political game plan here? well we get to hear officially from the aging, following the for withdrawal of us troops from the country, but they didn't quite anxious watching the situation that they are concerned about a potential instability in the country. i think primarily they don't want to see the country become a breeding ground for extremists. so terrorist china shows

a western border with afghanistan. and in the past week, a separatist associated with the e t i n group, the east, toughest on islamic movement have and to china sion john province by that board. and they don't want to see that happen again. china is also concerned about its investments enough gone on as well as it's very extensive investments in neighboring pakistan. now that being said, china has since the beginning of the taliban takeover maintained an approach of non interference. we saw that china abstained from the vote on monday, the un security council, and beijing is generally against withholding of any funds it's against international sanctions. it doesn't want to see the creation of a safe zone for foreigners in cobble china. things that these moves might antagonize the taliban and intensify tensions rather than ease them. but at the same time, china is worried about hasty and complete withdraw from afghanistan by the us. i

think that this might be seen as an opportunity by the islamic stage and other groups. and during a call between china's foreign minister, one e and u, a secretary of state antony blinking on sunday, beijing demanded that the us play an active role in guiding the taliban throughout this transition. and that the u. s. in put in some financial support and humanitarian support in afghanistan as well. we've heard continuously from china's foreign ministry since this process began. that china views it as the u. s. having created this mess as it sees it, that wants us to play a role in cleaning it up now, beating as yet to officially recognize that whole banner, the government of the country. but it was one of the 1st players to deal with the taliban as a legitimate and important political force. we saw of the gun he borrowed the taliban leaders come to china at the end of july, hold some very high level talks there. and during those talks and aging,

promised to play a role in the economic reconstruction of afghanistan as well as this transition. and in return, the taliban promise to hold the weaker forces at bay for china. i think china's whole approach here has been to give the taliban space and to give it a chance to prove itself. i think china is very much waiting to see what the tell bond does next. alright, to katrina. you live in beijing? katrina. thank or is there some other news now? hospital in the us state of louisiana have been forced to evacuate dozens of patients to hurricane either knocked out power to many areas, including the entire city of new orleans item a landfill on sunday, and has been since downgraded to a tropical storm. at least 2 people have died. philip reports now from mississippi . hurricane either took everything it had passed. this is the grand aisle of the coast of louisiana. one of the 1st places she roared into it was the worst thing

from above, either ripped off the roof after ruth. down below, she brought him the water, stella with ankles, me almost chuck levels. so we just put the dogs on the counter. and then we climbed into the attic across louisiana. they watched as either cause the chaos a devastation, one of the worst storms to ever hit the us mainland. i beg, of damages catastrophic. it's worth it being in the 20 years that i've been the parent and we've seen several hurricane. even hospitals were not immune from ida inside code with patients fighting for their lives on like outside the roof, coming off one across the state. doctors try to ignore the store and get on with what they do best. treating the l knowing more will be on their way on. we had their kind of move out of certain parts of the emergency department because there was debrief falling onto the roof. the when the water came hand in hand,

the rain hammering from the skies. the storm surge is pouring along streets and trapping drivers in their cars. power lines being ripped out electricity to the whole city of new orleans and beyond. just as the daylight was fighting, we've got a 1000000 people in louisiana without power. the people of louisiana have been told that how it is likely to be all the way not just days. this is not just a short time outage. it is being caused by officials, a cats a strong failure, which is why here and neighboring mississippi. you got all of these trucks is about a 100 of them. it goes way back. they all being sent across the border back into louisiana to help try to get the power back home as soon as possible for some seeking safety. the only way was up this woman having to climb into her re space from highway one in it came in setting only thing with climbing in the attic, as did many others,

he couldn't walk out through the water. it's pretty clear that if you have evacuated now is not the time to return. this is very much a search and rescue operation. now it could take days or weeks. basic supplies are all on the way. we're going to stand with you and the people in the gulf as long as it takes for you to recover. and louisiana needs all the help they can get filled. lavelle al jazeera gulfport, mississippi, and california thousands of people have been forced to flee out of entire resort city of south lake tahoe was ordered to evacuate because of a wildfire the called a fire, which broke out on august. the 14th has already been through more than 700 square kilometers, destroying hundreds of buildings. santos, a climate change has made the region a woman in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme. and while fires more destructive, when we spoke to photo journalist christian monta rosa, who is in eco leg,

that's just south of that resort, has been threatened by the wildfire. he said the weather conditions are lowering the fire spread further and foster the calendar fire is currently one of 2 major incident in the up there being the fire, not 2 hours north from here. this area has now become known as fire country because we're seeing dryer winds less rain and more tender, basically more feel for the fires to grow. and so it's been a real challenge for firefighters from what i've seen them to be able to keep up with it. every, every sort of trigger point as they call it or, or check point that they set for themselves to try and manage for the day has been completely demolished by the fire. and it's going to be a long next. lot of people, you know, obviously are, are full of emotion,

very nervous. they all mostly just want to ask questions and kind of be able to know what the situation is. you know, as soon as you hear that there's an evacuation, there's really not much else that you not much information that you receive after that. so a lot of people are scared or nervous. i spoke to one woman who was on oxygen in her r as she was trying to evacuate from south lake tahoe. and you know, she had just a handful of belongings on the back of her car. and she only had one question for me, which was you don't think the fire is going to catch up to us, do you? and i just didn't have an answer for her. when i for turn to our top story now and the 20 legacy, the u. s. has left behind and afghan has done to 0 particle. hain takes a look at the decades of different strategies and goals. by for us, presidents regards to america's longest war, most people will remember how it started down here.

all of us through a demand, detailed in turnover, osama bin laden and al qaeda unanswered a few weeks later a massive bombing campaign along with a small force of around $1000.00 special forces, soldiers and ca, agents combined with the northern alliance in afghan, a stand and the taliban fell within months. the u. s. along with its allies turned to nation building with big premises of lessons learned. we know this from not only intelligence, but from the history of military conflict in afghan. stan, it's been one of initial success followed by long years of floundering and ultimate failure. we're not gonna repeat that mistake critic say that is exactly what happened as the us turned more attention to the war in iraq. d u. s.

announced an end to major combat operations in afghanistan in 2003. a constitution was written elections followed. a new president, a new legislature with women taking positions of power. but as the years passed, the fighting continued. and as the taliban fought back and civilian casualties mounted, a new us president had to make a decision. go bigger or go home. or overarching goal remains the same. us president brock obama decided to send in an additional $17000.00 troops. then $30000.00 more by 2010, around 100000 us troops would be in afghanistan, in may of 2011 solid bin laden was found and killed in pakistan. but the war continued obama promise to bring most us troops home by the end of 2016. and then a new us president took over. a hasty withdraw. would create a vacuum that terrorists, including isis and al qaeda,

would instantly fill. president donald trump announced an open ended deployment, but eventually signed a deal with the taliban. if they promised to keep out terrorist groups and not attack us troops, a full withdrawal will happen by may of 2021. but then yet another new us president was sworn in, and president joe barton announced the war was ended. most american forces would leave. he promised it would be an orderly exit. unlike vietnam, the tale vaughan is not the south, the north vietnamese army. they're not, they're not remotely comparable terms of capability. there's going to be no circumstance for you to see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the of the united states from afghanistan. it is not at all come from . but his critics say this is actually worse than vietnam. as the taliban search, the us deployed more than 5000 troops to the airport. chaos in the streets as the

taliban took over the country and the capital after just 11 days. the airport overwhelmed as thousands tried to flee some desperately clinging to the outside of us cargo planes only to plunge to their death. the airport later secured the united states military decided the best solution was to work with the taliban, which was then in charge of deciding who stays and who goes into the airport. but then suddenly, americans were told to stay away from the airport. an attack was imminent, and it came to suicide bombers believe to be isis k. more than 170 afghans dead along with 13 members of the us military, american service members who gave their lives. so overused word, but it's totally appropriate here were heroes. the evacuations continued the promise to get every american out. every afghan who helped us broken us. officials say they will continue to try and get everyone out. but they say.