The scenes coming out of Kabul are stunning. The international airport clogged with people trying to get out — and people running after planes — and worse — as they taxi down the tarmac.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, it’s ‘Saigon on steroids‘

The exodus of the leadership sent Western evacuation plans into a frenzy. By 7 p.m., the American embassy in Kabul sent out a stark warning for U.S. citizens in Afghanistan: “The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly and the situation at the airport is deteriorating rapidly,” the U.S. Embassy said in an email. “Do not come to the Embassy or the airport at this time.”

On the airport road in the capital, hundreds of cars snarled into a gridlock at a key intersection decked with the green, gold and black flag of Afghanistan. Families could be seen removing their luggage and dragging it on foot towards the terminal.

At the military terminal, several hundred Afghans huddled on metal benches in the eerie departure lounge, wondering if a charter flight taking them abroad would ever come. At one point, hundreds of Afghan civilians rushed the airport perimeter and ran toward parked aircraft, trying to board a C-17 transporter, with some entering the plane, according to a military official. They were eventually pushed out. The incident briefly disrupted flight operations.

The reckoning for this debacle should be swift and thorough. The bipartisan foreign policy establishment, the military brass, countless politicians, pundits, and assorted hangers-on…they will all have a great deal to account for in the years ahead.

In the meantime, they will be forced to wrestle with their consciences…if they can.