The US should have made the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan longer to avoid the current collapse in the conflict-ravaged nation, experts believe, adding that the locals will never forget how the Biden administration abandoned ordinary Afghans.
US President Joe Biden made the historic announcement in April this year. After twenty years of bloodshed, Biden ultimately decided to terminate the seemingly endless war in the Islamic republic.
Biden vowed to complete the withdrawal of troops by a date redolent with meaning for Americans – the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which sparked the infamous War on Terror announced by erstwhile President George W. Bush.
As the US troops began to leave the nation, the violence started to spike which ultimately resulted in the fall of Kabul.
After overrunning major cities and provinces in the past weeks, the Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday to negotiate the transfer of power with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, who then stepped down and left the country.
Ghani said his decision was dictated by the desire to prevent violence as the militants were ready to carry out an attack on the capital.
“The Biden administration should have announced a longer withdrawal time in April. The administration wanted to withdraw by the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the attack on the Pentagon, New York City and so they applied their own deadlines – they should have consulted with the Afghan government and withdrew more slowly,” Erika Simpson, Associate Professor of International Politics at Western University and President of the Canadian Peace Research Association, told Sputnik.
She believes that it is highly unlikely that the US and NATO countries will send their troops and equipment into Afghanistan again since America has its own problems and issues to spend its money on, like battling the COVID-19 crisis.
Bidens Legacy
The legacy of the current US administration will never be forgotten, Bilquees Daud, a senior research associate at the O.P Jindal Global University said.
“The way he abandoned the people of Afghanistan overnight is cruel. However, he [Biden] will never take the blame, he already mentions that ‘Afghans should protect their soil if they can not how can we do it’.
The bitter reality is that it is an Afghan war, it is a proxy and imposed war on Afghans. Taliban have been created by Pakistan through direct support of Americans why Afghans should die for their bad strategies,” she said.
Alam Saleh, lecturer in Iranian Studies at the Australian National University says the US should take responsibility to protect the Afghan people.
“I stand squarely behind my decision … the developments of the past week reinforce that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision."
Joe Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal even after Taliban takeover ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/QzEV8Q05Oc
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 17, 2021
The US was obliged to protect the Afghan people, not only to seek its own interest but also the collective interests, which are the Afghan people and regional stability. This is from the ethical point of view,” he explained.
From the geopolitical point of view, the US leaving Afghanistan in the hands of China, Russia and Iran will change the geopolitics of the region and as a result, it can also be viewed as a defeat not only for Afghanistan who will be suffering under the Taliban control but also a geopolitical defeat for the US and its western allies, Saleh said.
“What is going on reminds us of what happened in Vietnam. We know the historical defeat of the United States after nearly 2 decades and spending [billions] of dollars, many hundreds of American casualties, and hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians killed. The result is almost nothing or zero,” he concluded.
Afghanistan Today, Taiwan Tomorrow
Chinese state media – the Global Times quoting netizens believes that Taiwan is nervous. Yesterday’s Saigon (Vietnam), today’s Afghanistan, and tomorrow’s Taiwan?” Many social media users said that the so-called alliance between the US and Taiwan is a hollow promise that will ultimately leave the Taiwan people hurt and abandoned.
GT also quotes an Op-Ed in a local Taiwan news site which wrote – sudden end in Afghanistan has “jolted” US allies and partners, who have become apprehensive of putting the safety of Taiwan in the hands of the US, as Washington may play the same trick with Taiwan as it played in Afghanistan.
Experts writing for the GT further write – The sheer debacle of the US in Afghanistan should serve as a warning to the secessionists in Taiwan, who have to realize that they cannot bank on Washington, as Afghanistan is not the first place where the US abandoned its allies, and it will not be the last one.
Meanwhile, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is conducting military drills in the waters and airspace near Taiwan in response to alleged provocations by the United States and Taipei, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said on Tuesday.
The official slammed the US and Taiwan for engaging in provocative actions, violating China’s sovereignty and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This comes after a US guided-missile destroyer sailed through the strait in late July, to Beijing’s chagrin.
“On August 17, the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed combat vessels, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter planes for a joint military exercise in the sea waters and air space to the southwest and southeast of the island of Taiwan,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The official added that the current drills were a necessary step in light of the current security situation on the strait as well as a response to outside meddling and provocations by forces that support Taiwan’s independence.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own democratically elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country and has political and economic relations with several other nations that recognize its sovereignty.
Beijing vociferously denies its independence as it sees itself as the only legitimate political representative of the Chinese people everywhere.
Inputs from Sputnik News Agency
