When the United States Army left Afghanistan several months ago, it seemed like the end of political tensions; however, in reality, it was its deterioration. The initiative was to provide Afghanistan the possibility to develop freely toward democracy. However, the opposite happened: the forces of the Taliban, an extremist Islamic organization, overthrew the Afghani government and established its rule again after they were displaced in 2001.
No matter how controversial the 2001 U.S. invasion in Afghanistan was, withdrawing forces in 2021 was wrong for several reasons. At first, it was inconsistent and ill-timed: although President Biden claimed that the Afghani National Army should act on its own and use its powers to defeat the Taliban, it was not ready for that. Second, it was unethical and even immoral: in fact, the United States left Afghani citizens alone with authoritarian forces of the Taliban. They persisted in their insurgence after the U.S. invasion and made their way back to power. Afghanistan has an extremely short history of democracy: its democratic institutes were not well-developed and could not stand against the decisive onslaught of the Taliban army. Thus, the withdrawal of the forces from Afghanistan was not justified and led to devastating consequences.
Even though the United States has many problems, which should be solved, its international politics should be consistent to be beneficial. If the United States had invaded Afghanistan, they should bear all consequences of this action. They started a civil war in the country that led to the establishment of the new democratic government instead of the repressive Islamist regiment of the Taliban. This regiment had ruled the country for several years and was deposed by the United States invasion. It seems to be a good deal, but in international politics, everything is more complicated: this overthrowing led to the growing social tension in the country, which was unrest even before the invasion. Despite the authoritarian rule of the Taliban had ended, civil war in the country began, and the U.S. Army was forced to fight in it. The balance of power in Afghanistan was precarious, and such instability led to losses and problems, draining resources from the United States that could be used for American citizens’ welfare.
It can even be said that the war in Afghanistan was losing from its beginning: it was the invasion of unfamiliar land with unfamiliar rules. Social tensions were always extremely high in Afghanistan: the country was often in a civil war state. The peculiarities of Afghanistan are hard to consider, while the Taliban knows them perfectly and is always ready to use this knowledge for its advancement. After the U.S. army invasion and overthrowing the Taliban regiment, a new civil war began. To hold power was hard even with the technological and financial advances of the United States. In such conditions, raising a new democratic government and training a new battle-worthy national army were complicated tasks. They required extensive study of the Afghani peculiarities and establishing and maintaining the delicate balance of power here. The United States cannot just refuse to do it and leave, as if nothing happened; the war was already unleashed, and its abandonment would be an attempt to avoid the responsibilities for the country’s actions.
The leaving of Afghanistan was the abandonment of its citizen one on one with a cruel enemy: Taliban forces, which tended to restore their government from the beginning. The cruelty of the Taliban can be seen in its actions: mass executions, repressing laws, intolerance, denying women’s rights. The organization claims that there will be reforms and its new government will be more tolerant of women’s rights, but in reality, their cruelties and intolerance persist. They executed the captured members of the Afghan National Army and introduced harsh laws on captured territories. Despite being an extremist organization, they knew the needs of society and the features of the territory, which gave them tactical and strategical advantages against the U.S. Army. All this knowledge led to the eventual victory of the Taliban.
Despite intensive training of the Afghani forces, they were not able to conquer the Taliban. Afghan National Army, armed forces of the Afghanistan democratic government, were quickly defeated. While the U.S. Army was able to fight with the Taliban due to technological advances, the Afghan army has not such advances and was able to function only with the direct help of the U.S. army. The United States spent twenty years training the Afghan forces, but it still was not enough. Thus, in the conditions of extreme social tension, political chaos, and unfamiliarity of the country for the U.S. Army, training was ineffective, and the results were weak. The United States should have known better when to leave and “cut losses” and when to act deliberately: it would save money and soldiers’ lives and provide better training for the Afghan National Army. Unfortunately, the U.S. has not managed to deal with it, and the consequences are sad: the restoration of the cruel and authoritarian Taliban regiment and the loss of resources invested in Afghanistan.
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One can conclude that leaving Afghanistan by the United States forces was untimely, at least. It led to increased tensions in the country, the rising of the Taliban forces, and, eventually, the overthrowing of the democratic government. The Taliban became a ruling power in Afghanistan and established the Islamic, authoritarian, and repressive regiment. In addition to that, the United States gained nothing in Afghanistan and has just lost all positions here.