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“Guardian of Peace” leaves Afghanistan after 20 years of military presence. The successive images make one shudder: the troops leave quickly, at night, without informing either their partners, with whom they cooperated, or the locals, whom they protected and guarded. Soldiers are kicking Afghans out of planes ready to take off.
As the last hope of salvation, they cling to the landing gear of the taking off plane. Children are handed over through the barbed wire fence of the airport in the hope that at least they can survive. The planes that flew in for Afghan refugees departed from Kabul almost empty. America walks away, leaving defenseless people in despair, bringing joy and hope to the militants. Not much time.
Political intentions to establish peace, democracy, freedom of speech and American-style rights everywhere are increasingly failing. America is a democracy, and a democracy doesn’t have much time; it has to hurry. The 4-year cycle of politicians requires swift action, regardless of means. And if democracy does not take root, the iron wings of aviation take its masters home. Only the dashed hopes of naive followers and allies remain overboard.
What is America running from? From failure. Twenty years of military operations in Afghanistan are over. Democracy did not take root. Freedom of speech is over. The gap between the locals and the peacekeepers remained huge. What was it? America’s Political Interest. Profit Expectations. What didn’t happen? A deep understanding of the mentality, traditions and customs of the local population. Allied support. Concerns for local residents. Moral and moral values that strengthen and unite the people. Infrastructure development. Strategies for Peace in the Region.
What’s left? Defeat. The collapse of an entire generation of Afghans. Destruction of Lives. The inglorious decline of America. Inspiring jihadists around the world.
“A sword immersed in water rusts”(Sun Tzu). The U.S. has become an expert at withdrawing troops in chaos, leaving desperate civilians to be “eaten” by insurgents. This was the case in 1975 in Vietnam, in 2019 in Syria, in 2020 in Iraq, and in 2021 in Afghanistan. This is how every war ends in the American way.
And what is good for Americans in the domestic politics of the “land of opportunity,” is death for other countries in foreign policy. Mobility (the ability to move anywhere in the country to achieve success and profit) in foreign policy turns into “raids” on countries and inglorious withdrawal after defeat. The pursuit of self-interest erases the achievements of the country in which U.S. troops enter, destroying the local infrastructure.
History returns again and again. Every time in a country where American troops enter in order to build a new, progressive, democratic society, it ends in failure. America’s lack of a common heritage or ethnicity makes it impossible to understand what is the foundation of other peoples, what a nation is as an entity, what its ideals and values are, what binds it through the centuries. So it doesn’t work to bring the idea of integrity of spirit, cooperation, caring, protecting all.
It was also very difficult in Afghanistan in this regard. As General Douglas Lute (advisor on Afghanistan in the Bush and Obama administrations) admitted in an interview during a government audit of the war in Afghanistan: “We didn’t know what we were doing. What were we trying to accomplish? We didn’t have the faintest idea of what we were taking on.”
In a foreign land with alien ideals and traditions, with a heavy-handed army against mobile guerrilla units of fighters, it is difficult not only to win, but also to be true to your own idea of “bringing freedom of speech, democracy and preserving human rights,” especially if the people and country are alien to the United States. The deadline to evacuate the remaining Americans, along with U.S. military and Afghan personnel, from Afghanistan is August 31, 2021.
What are the consequences for America’s partners? The focus of American attention will shift from the Middle East to Asia, which will undoubtedly have a painful effect on the countries of the Middle East. U.S. foreign policy interests are focused on building deep ties with allies in Southeast Asia to prevent Chinese expansion and expanding influence in the region. Old and new U.S. partners should think about who and what to trust.
