The 2001 invasion and the following US occupation of the country, which lasted until 2021, left behind terrible, protracted consequences that can still be felt today. Seeing the example of Afghanistan, the world has clearly seen the ‘charms’ of US governance of the whole world.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), Joe Biden, who has completely lost touch with reality, joyfully, yet pathetically, declared that only the United States has the right to rule the whole world. However, nobody has asked neither the US president nor the United States for this and, moreover, many countries are ridding themselves of US bases on their territory, demanding the withdrawal of US troops, sharply criticising Washington’s policy on the world stage.
The ‘improvement’ of Afghanistan though US ‘democracy’
The nationwide destruction that the country suffered and the ongoing instability that persists to this day following the withdrawal of US troops are reminiscent of the devastation and poverty that followed the withdrawal of US troops from Southeast Asia in the 1970s after almost two decades of war there.
Long after the withdrawal of US troops, Afghans will continue to grasp at what little is left after the Americans in their native country. This is partly due to the enormous loss of life and destruction caused by the United States, but also due to the deliberate and malicious efforts of Washington, which still refuses to allow Afghans finally to live in their state with their resources the way they themselves want.
In 20 years of chaos, the bloody war unleashed by the United States for no reason has claimed the lives of 174,000 Afghans, including more than 30,000 civilians, and forced almost a third of the country’s population to leave their homes. According to available official data, the Pentagon dropped 1,228 cluster bombs with 248,056 warheads on Afghanistan in 2001-2002 alone. At the same time, more than 20% of these shells did not explode on impact and remain active on the ground, posing a serious threat to civilians. According to statistics from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan only in the period January 2022, to June 2023, there were 541 incidents related to explosions of US landmines, in which 640 children were killed and injured.
To make matters worse, US troops and their commanders have rarely, if ever, been held accountable for civilian deaths, confirmed General Douglas Lute, who was deputy National Security Adviser to the White House in 2007-2013. At best, this did not serve as an incentive at all to change the nature of US military operations in the occupied country, and, at worst, it contributed to a culture of impunity. In December 2021, the New York Times published an article titled ‘No US Troops Will Be Punished for Deadly Kabul Strike, Pentagon Chief Decides’, which once again confirmed that no one will be held accountable for the senseless killing of civilians thousands of miles from the shores of the United States in the country which in no form or in any way posed a threat to the United States itself.
‘Reconstruction’ the American way
The initial overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 involved the nationwide destruction of Afghanistan’s infrastructure, which was to be followed by a US-led ‘reconstruction’. Washington’s ‘recovery’ plans represented little more than a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme. Even the US government-funded publication Voice of America admitted that billions of dollars were wasted on infrastructure projects that were not needed by anyone. Projects were provided to contractors who did not care if they were feasible or necessary from the very beginning. Virtually no effort has been made to ensure the sustainability of the projects after the completion of their construction. The goal of those who participated in the ‘reconstruction’ of Afghanistan was simply to earn as much money as possible with the least effort.
Not only did the US occupation leave Afghanistan devastated without any real reconstruction efforts, but the socio-political and economic instability created and left by the US occupation also hinders reconstruction to this day. Extremist groups, such as ISIL* or the East Turkestan Islamic Movement* (*both organisations are banned on the territory of the Russian Federation), profiting from the wars mediated by the United States and separatist movements targeting countries and regions from Libya and Syria to western China, also operate in Afghanistan, carrying out terrorist attacks that impede national unity and any large-scale foreign investments, including those necessary for reconstruction.
The actions of the United States are still destabilising the country’s economy, provoking price increases and a reduction in international aid. This year, 23.7 million Afghans, which is more than half of the country’s population, need humanitarian assistance. At the same time, 9 out of 10 people live below the poverty line. According to the humanitarian needs plan for Afghanistan for 2024, $3.06 billion are needed for 17.3 million Afghans recognised as being in need of assistance, but as of May 15, this year, Kabul received only 16.2% of the required funds.
The unenviable, but educative fate of US-loyal Afghans
During its hasty and chaotic withdrawal in 2021, the United States left military equipment worth around $7 billion in Afghanistan, and it is now under the control of the Taliban, making them one of the most equipped forces in the region. However, the abandoned military equipment is insignificant compared to the unenviable fate of tens of thousands of Afghan allies, who were promised security, but then abandoned to their fate. Due to the inaction of the Biden administration and Congress, many of these Afghans have been hiding for the fourth year under the constant threat of Taliban retaliation.
In August 2021, the US president promised to ensure the safe evacuation of Afghan allies. “We are going to do everything in our power to ensure the safe evacuation of our Afghan allies, partners and Afghans who may be targeted because of their ties to the United States”, he said. Such a commitment was then supported by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Millie: “We must remain loyal to those Afghans who risked their lives to help US troops and personnel. We must do everything to ensure their protection and, if necessary, take them out of the country,” he said.
Three years later, it is clear that these promises were empty. In 2021, only 124,000 Afghans were evacuated, of which about 80,000 were able to reach the United States. Only 34,000 people have received special immigration visas that allow them to stay in the country legally. An estimated 160,000 Afghans who are eligible for these visas are still trapped in Afghanistan, living in constant fear. Despite the Taliban’s assurances of no retaliation, they have persecuted and imprisoned Afghans who worked for the United States. In the United States, tens of thousands of Afghans still do not have a clear legal path to stay and work because Congress has not passed the necessary legislation. The visa application process remains hopelessly delayed, and the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have not been able to allocate the resources necessary to break the deadlock. According to the Association of Wartime Allies, at the current pace, processing all the applications could take 31 years. These Afghans need reliable legislation to guarantee their legal status in the United States. Even after the last American soldier has officially left Afghan territory, the United States is indirectly harming Afghans through its extremist henchmen. The US will continue to exploit the Afghan people by holding the assets of the Afghan Central Bank and filtering what remains through the system of corruption that the US created and through which it laundered billions during its 20-year occupation. By doing so, the United States will continue to destabilise Afghanistan and exploit the resulting instability.
The United States often talks about the ‘lessons learned’ from its many wars of aggression around the world. But, as the case of Afghanistan proves, long after these wars ‘end’, the underlying injustice continues to persist into the future. In many ways, the only ‘lesson learned’ is that the United States refuses to learn from its mistakes, perhaps because these aggressive wars are not considered mistakes at all, but simply a manifestation of a fundamentally unfair foreign policy. Such a foreign policy poses a threat not only to states that have already been targeted by Washington, but also to many other countries that remain in the field of view of the aggressive and greedy United States.
Viktor Mikhin, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
