Xinhua International Current Review: "The Fall of Kabul" Sounds the Death Knell for the Decline of U.S. Hegemony
http://xinhuanet.com/world/2021-08/16/c_1127765152.htm
Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Liming
On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul, Taliban representatives were discussing the "peaceful transfer of power" with the Afghan government, and President Ghani "leaved" other countries... Within a day, the development of the situation in Afghanistan took a sharp turn, and the "end of the game" became Western public opinion. Sigh.
History does not simply repeat itself, but it often follows similar beats.
It is remembered that in the 1970s, the United States withdrew from the center of the quagmire of the Vietnam War that took 20 years. The Viet Cong liberated Saigon in a flash, and the South Vietnamese regime supported by the United States was soon wiped out. Today, the history of the "fall of Saigon" is repeating itself in Afghanistan, but its speed is beyond many people's imagination, especially for the United States, which has dominated Afghanistan for 20 years, the excuse of "misjudgment" is quite popular.
In October 2001, the United States launched a war in Afghanistan under the pretext of fighting against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to overthrow the Taliban regime, which seemed to have achieved great success. Twenty years later, the U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan sadly, and they are now being forced to evacuate the last diplomats in a hurry. The Associated Press said that the Biden administration was "extremely surprised" at how quickly Kabul fell. After all, the White House was still advocating that the United States had trained and equipped hundreds of thousands of government troops a few days ago. The US intelligence report said that the Taliban may take three months to capture Kabul. ...
The "fall of Kabul" in 2021 has multiple metaphors and will surely become a historical event often mentioned by later historians.
The "fall of Kabul" marked the United States' failure to return in this long war. Over the past 20 years, more than 2,000 US troops have been killed in the battlefield in Afghanistan, tens of thousands of people have been injured, and the total cost of the war has exceeded 2 trillion US dollars. Afghanistan needs "bottomless pit-style" investment, which is a "baggage" that has to be discarded. U.S. President Biden has said that the Afghanistan War has gone through two Republican presidents and two Democratic presidents, and it is a big truth to not lose the burden to the fifth U.S. president.
The "fall of Kabul" marked the collapse of the international image and credibility of the United States. In the past 20 years, NATO allies followed the United States in Afghanistan, paying money and shooting people, and finally ended up in a feather, once again proving that being a "little follower" of the United States has no good fruits. According to Agence France-Presse, the change in Afghanistan means that "the image of the United States is scattered all over the place."
The United States can withdraw it once, but the suffering left to the Afghan people is endless. Over the past 20 years, more than 30,000 civilians in Afghanistan have been killed, bombed or killed by the US military. More than 60,000 were injured, and about 11 million people have become refugees. Facts have repeatedly proved that the United States is the world's largest exporter of turmoil, and its hegemonic policy of "I dominate the world rather than ruin the world" has caused too many human tragedies.
The "fall of Kabul" marked another turning point in the decline of American hegemony. As we all know, after the end of the Cold War, the United States, as the only superpower, was in the limelight for a while, and the "end of history" was on the rise. After having tasted the sweetness of bombing the Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century, the United States fought the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 21st century, showing the hegemony of "whoever I am". As everyone knows, the reincarnation of the heavens, the rebellious war, the king and hegemony cannot last forever. In December 2010, the US "National" magazine published an article entitled "The Decline and Fall of the U.S. Empire" that the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was the beginning of the decline of the United States, which was quite prescient. Since then, after multiple blows such as the global financial crisis and the new crown epidemic, the decline of U.S. hegemony has become an indisputable reality. The collapse of Afghanistan is just another node in the downward spiral of U.S. hegemony.
At present, in response to the "fall of Kabul," Washington is quite hurried. The White House deployed thousands of American soldiers to Afghanistan to ensure the final evacuation of American personnel. The roar of airplanes and the hurriedly retreating crowd reflected the last dusk of the empire.
What will China do in Afghanistan?
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wh...n-afghanistan/
Afghanistan is not an empty space and the Taliban are well short of being in a position to first provide security and then deliver services to 37 million Afghans, if indeed that is even their intent.
Afghanistan’s reserves of lithium, copper and gold are still in the ground because of the country’s history of insecurity, lack of a solid legal framework and high levels of corruption. None of that seems likely to improve under Taliban rule with cashed-up mercantilist Chinese entities offering inducements to particular leaders.
Of more immediate importance, Afghanistan is awash with weapons and with men trained in their use—as Iraq was after the US coalition toppled Saddam Hussein and disbanded the Iraqi military. Some of that weaponry is brand spanking new, delivered this year by the US to the Afghan security forces as a statement of long-term support.
