Welcome to the Inquiry. I'm Charmaine Cozier each week, one question, four experts and an answer.

It's Sunday, August 15th. An international flight prepares for departure, but this one is far

from ordinary. A military cargo plane that usually holds a maximum of 300 people has 823

scared passengers on board. They stand close together in the cramped space.

The rear of the plane, which lowers down as a ramp during loading, is jammed and rushed by

even more frightened people. The airport is in Kabul. The capital city has been seized by

the Taliban, which now controls most of Afghanistan. In the following days, evacuation scenes

intensify. Thousands of Afghans reach the airport before the Taliban shut off access.

They queue alongside Westerners for days in extreme heat, many without food, water or a guaranteed

flight. On the runway, hundreds of the most desperate clings to the sides of planes as they take off.

Videos show some falling to their deaths.

The chaos and danger comes as international troops finally withdraw from a 20-year conflict

led by the US. America's had four leaders in that time, so this week we're asking which

president is most responsible for the failure in Afghanistan.

Part 1. President Bush

September 11, 2001. On that date, four airplanes were flown into different buildings and

installations in the United States, including the Twin Towers in New York City and into the

Pentagon in Washington, DC. Michael McKinley is a former US State Department advisor. He's also

a former US ambassador to Afghanistan. I was in the State Department that day and we received

the alarm and looked at our windows, saw the smoke rising and dutifully left the building, not

sure what was happening. 2,977 people were killed, more than 6,000 were injured. A network of

Islamist extremists known as al-Qaeda plotted the attacks from Afghanistan. Michael says a few

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