What went wrong in Afghanistan?

The Taliban retake Afghanistan; Haiti experiences another devastating earthquake.

The Taliban retake Afghanistan; Haiti experiences another devastating earthquake.   Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. TOP NEWS Kabul has fallen     Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images For the first time since 2001, the Taliban have taken control of the Afghan capital of Kabul, reaching the city on Sunday and claiming the last government holdouts. [Vox / Natasha Ishak] In a final sign that the Afghan government had collapsed, President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday, saying that staying and fighting would surely result in further death and destruction. [USA Today / Katie Wadington] The US initially entered Afghanistan in 2001 to drive out the Taliban due to their refusal to turn over Osama bin Laden, the architect of 9/11. That goal was achieved within months, but the US military spent the next two decades building an Afghan government and military. [NPR / Scott Neuman] As the US finished its withdrawal this month, the Taliban moved incredibly quickly as the Afghan army fled — a stunning repudiation of US intelligence, which had believed the Afghan government could hold for six to 18 months. [Politico / Lara Seligman] The Afghan army has been beleaguered by corruption, with many soldiers going without ammunition, pay, or food promised. The longstanding US presence in Afghanistan and the corruption in the country's government have strengthened Taliban recruitment. [Washington Post / Derek Hawkins] Chaos has ensued in Kabul as people are desperate to flee the country, fearing the Taliban will take revenge on people who helped the US government and women who gained positions of prominence in Afghan society. [AP / Joseph Krauss] In a scene similar to the fall of Saigon, officials took down the American flag at the US Embassy in Kabul and are scrambling to evacuate the personnel still there. An estimated 3,000-plus employees — both American and Afghan — are still awaiting evacuation, along with their families. [CNN / Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler, and Nicole Gaouette] For residents of Kabul, the return of the Taliban has brought about fear, though the Taliban claim to have evolved to be more moderate. Younger women who grew up in Kabul and have become accustomed to the more liberal culture fear those freedoms are likely to end. [NBC News / Saphora Smith] Earthquake in Haiti A 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti has left almost 1,300 people dead, thousands injured, and hospitals overwhelmed, as the country now braces for a tropical storm. [Reuters / Laura Gottesdiener] Tropical Depression Grace is expected to make landfall today, with the potential to cause floods, mudslides, and further damage to roads and other infrastructure brought down by the earthquake. [BBC News] Saturday's earthquake was two times larger than the devastating earthquake Haiti experienced in 2010, along the same fault line. While the damage is not expected to be as bad as in 2010, Haiti is already dealing with existing health and political crises stemming from the pandemic and the recent assassination of its president. [USA Today / Elinor Aspegren] Hospitals, already overwhelmed by the coronavirus, are being pushed to their limits. People are struggling to access medical care and necessities given the blockage of roads from the earthquake. [CNN / Matt Rivers and Jack Guy] The earthquake struck in western Haiti, and now families are trying to evacuate to Port-au-Prince, in the eastern part of the country. Poor infrastructure, a lack of doctors, and political violence are expected to make the response challenging, but experts say officials have learned from the 2010 earthquake and are much better able to deploy emergency medical services. [NYT / Maria Abi-Habib] MISCELLANEOUS The Biden administration has approved the largest permanent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, to more than 25 percent above pre-pandemic levels. [AP / Ashraf Khalil and Josh Boak] US agents have seized thousands of fake Covid-19 vaccination cards being shipped in bundles from China to the US. [Washington Post / Katie Shepherd] Siding with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a Dallas judge could not enforce local mask mandates. [Dallas Morning News / Krista M. Torralva] R. Kelly's trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges begins this week. [BuzzFeed News / Julia Reinstein] Support our journalism Reader contributions help keep Vox and newsletters like Sentences free for all. Support our work from as little as $3. Give $3 VERBATIM "All these years of education and hard work, in the hope of making a better life and helping other Afghans, ended up being for nothing." [22-year-old data analyst Massouma Tajik, on trying to escape Kabul after working for a US contractor and the return of the Taliban] LISTEN TO THIS     Vox's Sean Illing talks with comedian Bill Maher about the risks and challenges of political comedy today, free speech, and whether ideology undermines humor. They discuss how Maher — who's been out front on issues like animal rights and climate change — has become such a lightning rod for a certain species of progressive. [Spotify] Read more from Vox Why it's so hard to be a nurse in America, according to two nurses   Nothing changes on The White Lotus. 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