The attack on Kabul airport underlines the west\u2019s obligations, which do not end with the occupation <\/p>\n
For all that it had been warned of, was perhaps even half-expected, Thursday\u2019s terrorist attack on Kabul\u2019s Hamid Karzai airport was a deeply shocking event<\/a>. The setting for the final unravelling of the west\u2019s failure was already frightening. Thousands of people had struggled for days to gain access to the buildings and officials that they hoped would offer them a passport to safety. With Islamic State\u2019s attack, which began not far from the Baron Hotel where British personnel were based, and is so far known to have killed 79 civilians and 13 US service people, what had been a worst-case scenario became reality.<\/p>\n Islamic State\u2019s Afghan affiliate<\/a>, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province and also as Isis-K, detonated a bomb that not only ripped apart lives, but also served as a bloodcurdling warning of what it may be capable of. Joe Biden, unsurprisingly, responded with a threat of his own<\/a>: \u201cWe will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,\u201d he said, following the carnage, addressing the terrorists directly for the benefit of an appalled domestic audience.<\/p>\n