Pak Sahafat – The chaotic and humiliating departure of Joe Biden’s government after 21 years of occupation of Afghanistan, which took place under the pretext of fighting against the self-created terrorist group “Al-Qaeda”, can be seen as an indication of the decline of Washington’s power in West Asia (Middle East), which despite the One year, the weight of this defeat is still heavy on the shoulders of the American government.
In 2001, the government of George W. Bush attacked Afghanistan with its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) in the wake of the fake incident of September 11 in the twin towers of the business center in New York under the pretext of revenge against “Al-Qaeda”, but in 21 years of occupation this country not only did not destroy its self-created terrorist group, but also destroyed all the political, economic and social structures of Afghanistan so much that because its presence was costly without any achievements, it was finally forced to leave the country on August 15, 2021.
In the first days of August 2021, the high speed of the Taliban’s advance in the provinces of Afghanistan shocked many politicians and analysts of international and regional issues, including American statesmen and senior officials of the then Afghan government.
Only 48 hours before the successful escape of the previous president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, on August 13, he discussed the fall of Herat province with Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, Minister of Interior, Minister of Defense and senior government officials in the office.
According to one of the former senior government officials present at the meeting, they who were constantly accusing each other, wanted to know the reason why the soldiers are leaving the trenches in the battle with the Taliban.
Meanwhile, the fugitive president of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, later announced in an interview that Zalmay Khalilzad, the former representative of the US in Afghanistan, had divided all the politicians of this country with his plans.
The American special inspector for the reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR) has presented a narrative report of the last days of the Afghan government before the Taliban took over.
According to news reports, in this report, a senior official of the previous Afghan government is quoted as saying: Until then, no one had taken the defense of Kabul seriously. On that day, the President interrupted the discussion of the members of the meeting and ordered them to focus on the defense of this city because of the Taliban’s approach to Kabul. At the end of the meeting, the president decided to tell the people in a video message: We stand by our positions and stop the progress of the Taliban.
On Saturday, August 14, 2021, the Chief of Staff of the Afghan Army explained to the President and government officials how to defend Kabul in the next two weeks. His expectation was clearly a military conflict or a long-term negotiation over Kabul.
Another official of the Afghan government says that Ghani thought that Kabul was so well protected that he could resist for two weeks so that the process of transferring the government could be done smoothly, that is why he had instructed his staff to stay in the capital for two weeks and prepare for the transfer of power.
The head of the Kabul security department was also changed for the same purpose, but the rapid advance of the Taliban seemed irreversible.
This senior Afghan government official told the US Special Inspector General’s Office for Afghanistan Reconstruction: “Everyone was terrified.” Logar province had also fallen and Taliban forces had put a lot of pressure on Nangarhar province. We were reporting to the president and basically witnessed the disintegration of Afghanistan’s defense and national security forces. I did not sleep all Saturday night and at 3:30 am on Sunday, I realized that Nangarhar had fallen. I decided to go to the National Security Adviser and say that based on my experience in 1996 (the last time the Taliban captured Kabul) it is almost impossible to hold Kabul and the collapse of Kabul’s defense is very close.
This official says: Of course, some senior government officials still thought that since the Taliban had agreed with the United States that the withdrawal of international forces would not enter Kabul until the time was considered, all this terror was not necessary. However, according to the report of the Presidential Guard, before noon on Sunday, August 15, the Taliban were entering the city and Kabul airport no longer had security. According to the reports that were published later, the Taliban had entered the capital contrary to their agreement and before the full withdrawal of the international forces.
Withdrawal from Afghanistan is a black spot in Biden’s career
David Ignatius, a famous American analyst and author, wrote in the Washington Post on December 21, 2021: Biden’s biggest foreign policy mistake was managing the chaotic exit from Afghanistan. Biden personally was determined to end America’s longest war. He is a stubborn and sometimes angry man. He got what he wanted, but at a significant cost to America’s image and credibility.
This American journalist continued: The US Army and the CIA did things on the way to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, but the US State Department did not adequately manage the level of government collapse in Kabul and the foreseeable need to evacuate tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans.
The author of the Washington Post stated that Trump talked about leaving Kabul and Biden did it, adding: Afghanistan is the weak point of Biden’s career in terms of credibility. Biden boasted in June that America was back, but the reality is that Kabul was a reflection of America’s retreat.
Continuation of American wars despite Biden’s claim
But as the New York Times wrote on September 22, 2021, although Biden has claimed that the war is over, America’s wars are still going on.
Last year, Biden claimed at the United Nations that “for the first time in 20 years, the United States is not at war.” This is despite the fact that only a day earlier, a missile fired from an American drone destroyed a car that He was moving on a remote road in the northwest of Syria. It was said that this attack was carried out against a suspected al-Qaeda operative. Three weeks earlier, the US military carried out an airstrike in Somalia to target members of the al-Shabaab terrorist group, part of US air operations in the country that have intensified in recent months.
According to the New York Times, American soldiers may no longer be present in Afghanistan, but American wars continue in different parts of the world. Last year, Biden’s speech at the United Nations on ending America’s wars came on the same day that the last soldier killed before the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
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What is desirable for the Americans in Afghanistan / Targeted chaos
According to this American media, this was the latest attempt by an American president in two decades after the attacks of September 11, with a word game about war to cover up the unpleasant facts that the United States is still engaged in armed war around the world.
In June, in a letter to Congress, Biden mentioned the names of all the countries where American forces are present, from Iraq and Syria to Yemen, the Philippines and Niger.
According to this letter, today, 40,000 American troops are still stationed throughout the Middle East, including 2,500 troops in Iraq, more than 18 years after George W. Bush ordered the invasion of this country, and about 900 troops in the mission led by Barack Obama.
Also, Biden admitted that in the future he will lead the army to carry out operations in Afghanistan against new terrorist threats even through bases outside this country.
He had stated: Our forces are not coming home. We have to be honest about this. They just move to other bases in the same area to carry out similar counter-terrorist missions.
In fact, the excuse of the defeat of ISIS and the emergence of affiliates of this group in North Africa, Asia and other parts of the world has given American military planners an excuse to continue some of the operations described by Biden in his letter to Congress.
The letter claims that most of these deployments do not involve “routine engagement in combat,” but that in many places U.S. forces may be “required to defend themselves against threats or attacks.”
Of course, as the American newspaper Washington Post wrote, the region of West Asia (Middle East) has been a “dependent habit” for America, which neither it nor its unstable friends have been able to leave.
David Ignatius wrote about this in the Washington Post on March 28, 2022: When General Mackenzie became the head of CENTCOM in 2019, his main concern was Iran. Iran remains Centcom’s top priority now that he ends his tenure as commander on April 1. Mackenzie himself believes that the lasting lesson of his mission for the region is that “Iran is where it belongs and is not going anywhere.”
The author continued: American power in the Middle East decreased during the 3 years of Mackenzie’s command over American forces in the region. The United States withdrew from its longest war in Afghanistan, and traditional partners such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have begun to turn away from the United States.
The Washington Post writer continued: Mackenzie’s retirement is an opportunity to reflect on America’s position in the Middle East after spending so much blood and wealth over decades policing the region. The honest answer is that the United States has, on many occasions, wasted its resources in the region trying to maintain an inherently unstable status quo.
Al-Qaeda is still an excuse for American wars and a keyword for compensating for the defeat in Afghanistan
Now, one year after the chaotic and humiliating withdrawal of the American military from Afghanistan, Biden is looking for a way to save himself and the Democratic Party on the eve of the congressional mid-term elections to compensate for this historic defeat in the keyword of Al-Qaeda, which his predecessors used to occupy and destroy Afghanistan.
US President Joe Biden announced on August 11: Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in Afghanistan. He was the mastermind behind the attacks on Americans.
At the same time, the Associated Press news agency also confirmed the death of al-Zawahiri and tried to introduce him on the same level as bin Laden, while ISIS is mentioned in numerous reports about the main cause of the recent insecurity in Afghanistan.
Of course, in 2011, the Democrats tried to prepare the ground for a repeat of Obama’s presidency by violating Pakistan’s privacy and claiming the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda.
And now, one year after leaving Afghanistan, not only has America been involved in the Ukraine war for months, which itself played an important role in creating it, but as veteran politician and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says in a conversation with the Wall Street Journal: The brink of war with Russia and China is about issues that he has played a part in creating, regardless of the consequences.
This German-American diplomat and geopolitical consultant, who served as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor in the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and is now 99 years old, previously spoke to Bloomberg saying that the world needs better leaders.
Kissinger believes that the increasingly hostile relations between the United States and China have the risk of “a catastrophe in the world, similar to the First World War.”
It seems that the American statesmen, who always consider their survival and the United States’ survival in the international arena, will continue to beat this drum and the bitter experience of historical defeats will not be able to stop their warmongering madness.