Ashok Dhillon
Aug 18, 20214 min
America is the ‘Champ’ of all the democracies of the World; and we all look to it to lead the charge against the evils of authoritarian regimes that trample on human-rights and freedoms. But our Champ doesn’t tell or live the truth, jumps into unjustified wars, destroys and creates chaos, protects the worst human-rights offenders like Saudi Arabia (dare we say Israel), while devastating countries and peoples that have not had anything to do with its perceived grievances or losses to life and property as in 9/11. Such was its war in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, America again burnt itself through its self-deceiving reason for going to war. Its stated purpose was to root out terrorism with Osama bin-Laden, and Al Qaida, ensconced in camps in Afghanistan. It could have done this by its much hyped ‘strategic strike’ capabilities, ‘Special Ops’ etc., but it decided to invade the entire country and take it all on.
A very big mistake – indicated by the long history of Great Empires (including Great Britain at its zenith, and the military super-power, Russia, most recently) that tried it in the past and failed miserably. But America’s belief that somehow it is ‘exceptional’ and cannot be compared to any country or power in history, or now, leads it to jump-in where the wise fear to tread.
Its foray into Afghanistan was doomed for failure, and the only one that didn’t seem to know it going-in was America. After 20 years of war and Trillions of dollars wasted and hundreds of thousands of lives lost, America finally pulled out of a poorly planned and executed lost-cause, and another humiliatingly long-lost war. Why it chose to attack Iraq and Afghanistan when almost all the ‘terrorists’ in the 9/11 attack were Saudi Arabians, shall always remain a stigma to its naive ability to self-deceive, because no one else bought its nonsensical rationale.
Terrorism is by its very nature underground, isolated guerrilla tactics, and rooted in ideology and fanaticism, and makes for a poor target for frontal assaults. America, of the all countries, should have had this lesson burned into its collective political-military-public mind, but it seems to suffer from very short-term, wilful, memory loss (Vietnam). And, for all of America’s much hyped military and geo-political genius, it keeps getting its analysis of the mission childishly wrong - and like a muscle-bound bully on the beach, America (collectively) cannot but help wanting to kick sand in every 90-pound weakling it comes across.
In Vietnam, and now in Afghanistan, it got its muscle-bound butt (which seems to do most of its thinking for it, rather than the other end) handed to it in a very public fashion.
The immediate and stunning collapse of the American installed Afghan ‘Government’ to the resurgent and conquering Taliban forces, who swatted aside the American trained ‘Afghan defence forces’, are just another shocking example of a long string of American failures to hold back authoritarian forces and do regime-country-culture change, sustainably. Yet, in spite of horrific and very public past failures, America has persisted in its belief that its ‘shock and awe’ military power and economic might (its ‘exceptionalism’), is simply undefeatable, and it is free to go gallivanting around the World destroying countries and affecting regime changes like special projects that it only is specially qualified to do.
It’s been horribly wrong most of the times, and inflicted on its unfortunate targets tremendous destruction, death, suffering, and decades of pain. And, as for its-self, after initial victories with its overwhelming technologically superior firepower, and highly trained manpower, it is all usually followed by a growing stalemate as the enemy adapts and fights back, willing to take the much higher losses in lives to eventually defeat its aggressor, with a determination and a sense of purpose that it knows America lacks over the longer term. It seems that all America’s enemies or opponents have to do is simply wait it out, knowing it will lose its will, commitment, and interest over time.
Eventually, the ‘shock and awe’ turns into a morass of a losing cause, amid unrelenting enemy pressure, as costs and casualties mount, and political and public frustrations grow. This well-established pattern has always left America increasingly conflicted and second-guessing its initial mission, with its target usually devastated and its citizens despairing as it becomes clear to them that America is again losing, and eventually will leave and go back home, leaving them to deal with the consequences of having sided with the Americans.
With Afghanistan, America has ripped open the deep scars of Vietnam by the uncannily similar purpose of regime change, followed by a long, horrific, and costly war, and ultimate, very public, and humiliating defeat that was a long time coming. And this defeat and humiliating similarity to the losses and chaotic flight from Saigon are precisely the reason to hope that America, its warmongering leadership in its political-military-industrial complex, and most importantly its public, have finally had enough.
Departure from Vietnam & Afghanistan
This is not to say America has done no good since the Second World War, it has, but the sum total of its failures in wars, post WWII, have caused more harm than good, as is so painfully brought home by the collapse of all of its 20 years of efforts in Afghanistan, in a few stunning weeks. Hopefully, the ongoing debacle of the collapse of Afghanistan makes it finally realize it, and more importantly takes away any political and public appetite for these very destructive impulses. One can also hope that this very humiliating and costly defeat is America’s last reckless war.
One can only hope...