Operation Frequent Wind

August 30, 2021

Published in Mainichi Shimbun
(Japan) on 17 August 2021
by (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Eric Stimson. Edited by Gillian Palmer.

Operation Frequent Wind was a rescue operation in 1975 by American military helicopter for the American and South Vietnamese citizens in Saigon (modern Ho Chi Minh City) as it was attacked by the North Vietnamese army. At the time, the South Vietnamese government collapsed. Images of a Northern tank bursting into the Southern presidential palace and helicopters being pushed into the sea from an offshore American aircraft carrier announced the end of the Vietnam War. As helicopters from the aforementioned operation brought refugees to the carrier, they were subsequently dumped into the sea to make room for more.

Current President Joe Biden was already a senator at that time and opposed the operation, arguing that the U.S. had no responsibility to save Southern citizens. And only a month ago, it was Biden who defiantly rejected comparisons between the situation in Afghanistan and the Vietnam War era. The picture of Taliban fighters occupying the Afghan presidential office in Kabul was shocking. Although there were pictures of helicopters taking diplomats to the airport, it seems that there wasn’t enough time to prepare a large-scale withdrawal operation. That’s how sudden the Taliban seizure of the capital was. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and recognized the Taliban victory on Facebook. The administration’s sudden collapse spurred people to rush to the airport to flee the country, and chaos spread.

It is a pitiful conclusion to the war in Afghanistan that began 20 years ago with the overthrow of the previous Taliban regime. The Taliban have proclaimed a softer position, including consideration of women’s rights and rejecting international terror, but we hear news that clashes with this. It was a miscalculation for Biden: He had hoped to discard Afghanistan, but instead it became a showcase for the disregard and irresponsibility of American diplomacy.

フリークエント・ウインド作戦とは、1975年、北ベトナム軍に侵攻されたサイゴン（現ホーチミン）からの米国人や南ベトナム市民の米軍ヘリによる脱出作戦だ。この時、南ベトナム政権は崩壊した▲ベトナム戦争の終わりを告げたのは、南の大統領宮殿に突入する北の戦車と、沖合の米空母から海に捨てられるヘリの映像だった。先の作戦のヘリは避難者を空母に降ろすと、次のヘリの着陸場所確保のため順次海に投棄されたのだ▲当時、米国には南の市民救出の義務はないと作戦に反対したのが、すでに上院議員だったバイデン現大統領という。そしてほんの1カ月前、アフガニスタンの現況はベトナム戦争時とは比較にならないと胸を張ったのもバイデン氏だ▲衝撃だったのはカブールの大統領執務室を占拠したタリバンの兵士の映像だった。ただ外交官らがヘリで空港へ向かう映像はあっても、大規模な脱出作戦を準備する間はなかったようだ。それほど急だったタリバンの首都制圧である▲アフガンのガニ大統領は出国し、フェイスブックでタリバンの勝利を認めた。あっけない政権崩壊で国外避難を求める人々が空港に殺到、混乱状態が広がる。20年前の旧タリバン政権打倒に始まったアフガン戦争の無残な終幕である▲タリバンは女性の権利への配慮や国際テロの否定など柔軟姿勢を掲げるが、それと相いれない情報も聞こえる。切り捨てるはずのアフガンを米国外交の浅慮（せんりょ）と無責任のショーケースに変えたバイデン氏の誤算だ。

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