On the fifth anniversary of the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 U.S. Marines and 170 civilians, a new documentary, "The Path to Zero," is drawing attention to the chaotic and flawed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. The film, by Palladium Pictures, presents accounts from U.S. Marines, diplomats, and Afghan allies who were present during the final days of the evacuation.
Harrowing Accounts of the Evacuation
Eyewitnesses describe scenes of desperation and chaos as thousands of Afghans sought to escape the Taliban following the U.S. troop pullout. The documentary highlights the difficult decisions faced by U.S. service members, who had to manage the overwhelming crowds and changing criteria for who could be evacuated. Bodycam footage from the August 26, 2021, attack, carried out by an ISIS-K member, shows U.S. soldiers in a state of shock amidst the rubble.
Retired Marine Joseph Laude recounts witnessing Afghan forces, known as Zero Units and trained by the CIA, allegedly engaging in violence against civilians during the evacuation. "They would use vehicles, they would run people over, they'd execute people, they'd shoot into the crowds," Laude stated in the documentary, describing the events as "atrocities" and "war crimes."
Retired Marine Edward Gonzalez described the trauma of having to deny entry to desperate individuals, including a woman fearful of Taliban persecution. "She kept begging all night and I couldn’t let her in," he recalled. "And meanwhile there’s thousands of families that got denied and dragged off by the Taliban because they didn’t possess the right paperwork."
Strategic Decisions Under Scrutiny
"The Path to Zero" also scrutinizes key decisions made by the Biden administration. The film notes that the attacker, Abdul Rahman al-Logari, had been released from a Taliban-controlled prison. It also points to the closure of Bagram Air Base in July 2021, a month before the full withdrawal, leaving behind significant military equipment that subsequently fell into Taliban hands.
Retired Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie stated in the documentary that the situation escalated due to a failure to make timely decisions regarding the evacuation of the U.S. embassy, citizens, and at-risk Afghans. He asserted that the blame lies with "political leadership that chose to turn a blind eye to the situation in Afghanistan and allow this to boil to a point in August when it became out of control."
Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page, argues that the withdrawal undermined public perception of President Biden's competence and signaled to adversaries a potential lack of resolve. "This was a major, major mistake," Gigot said. "And what it did was, undermine the American public’s perception of Biden’s competence. It also seeded, I think, the sense among adversaries that this president didn’t have the will to do what was needed to stand up to America’s crucial interests."
The documentary features interviews with retired Marines and others who were present during the evacuation, offering a critical perspective on the end of America's two-decade military involvement in Afghanistan.