The Long Goodbye

The Americans are taking a long time to withdraw from Afghanistan. A US withdrawal would be a solution to Afghanistan’s long-drawn problems as it would now be in the interest of the Afghan people to stand on their own feet.

By Labbaba Jahangir | January 2020

Afghanistan was a graveyard for the Soviets and the Americans will meet the same fate. For years now, they have been planning a withdrawal but that seems impossible in the prevailing situation. How did the USA, being a superpower, lose the war against the tribal Afghans, is a question that needs serious answers. Was it a lack of strategy on America’s part or the shrewdness of the enemy or maybe a bit of both? Perhaps the Americans expected that the flimsy Afghans would be simply trammeled under US boots.

Pakistan has always played a vital role in wars fought in Afghanistan. Recently, when some US war veterans wrote and listed the reasons for the failure of the US in Afghanistan, they termed the duplicity of Pakistan as one reason. It is a common belief among the Americans, that a victory in Afghanistan was impossible so long as Pakistan controlled the supply routes, providing safe havens for Afghan terrorists.

There is also the view that the American senior leadership had, after 9/11, emphasized the means over the ends in Afghanistan and, in the urgency to respond to the attacks, had never strategized this war properly. Even now it appears as if the USA has no framework through which it can withdraw from Afghanistan. It seems the US officials didn’t fully understand how to align their objectives with proper planning so that they can leave behind a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

The first and foremost priority of a state is always its national interest. The war that USA and its allies started in Afghanistan under the slogan of war against terrorism was in their national interest. The decisions that Pakistani governments have taken over the years have also been aligned with Pakistan’s national interests.

Read More

The writer has an abiding interest in international relations. She has a Masters degree in the subject from the National Defence University, Islamabad and can be reached at labbaba1808@gmail.com

Cover Story
One-on-One
Region

Leave a Reply

Update