It was Saigon then, it’s Kabul now. America’s shameful history of running away

It was Saigon then. After waging a 19-year long war against the Vietnamese Communists, the United Stated decided to withdraw. Two years after the withdrawal of American troops, Saigon – now known as Ho Chi Minh city was taken over by the Communists, and the United States was left befuddled. It desperately scrambled to evacuate American citizens from the country in 1975. Not much has changed ever since. Joe Biden’s disastrous, ill-planned and hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is forcing a repeat of Saigon and the horrors of Vietnam. Once again, Americans are desperately trying to leave Afghanistan, as the US tries to fit in all of its citizens like cattle in humungous aircraft.

The American embassy in Afghanistan has been shut down. Such desperate scenes would not have panned out, had the Biden administration thought the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan through. It did not, and today, the United States is facing global ridicule for leaving a war-torn country in the hands of Islamist extremists – who will take Afghanistan back to the horrifying times of their earlier rule. In 2001, the Taliban was ousted from power by US troops. Afghans breathed a sigh of relief. 20 years later, Afghanistan has reverted to square one. 

In fact, Cambodia too, in 1987, witnessed the best of American running – by which we mean the Asian country saw how the US – which prides itself to be the leader of the free world, withdrew from the country with its tail between its legs. 

The United States, in the past 20 years, has spent $3 trillion on Afghanistan. 2,41,000 people have been killed in the Afghan war. 2,442 US soldiers have lost their lives. More than 20,000 US soldiers have been wounded. An additional $90 billion was spent trying to prepare the Afghan forces for battle against the Taliban. Today, all sacrifices made by American soldiers and all of Americans’ tax money spent on Afghanistan has gone down the drain. It has amounted to absolutely nothing. Zilch. 

Kabul has fallen. The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan. Photos from the Presidential Palace in Afghanistan show Talibani savages in their medieval outfits, reciting the Quran while being armed with guns. Afghanistan’s civilian government, led by President Ashraf Ghani and Vice President Amrullah Saleh has fled the country. They would not have been forced to flee, had the Biden administration not made wrecking Afghanistan a priority. 

Read more: Taliban sees a friend in China and the world should fear a China-Taliban-Pakistan axis

Make no mistake, the US had to withdraw from Afghanistan eventually. It was known to all, and they had the right to do so. The US cannot and should not fight the wars of other countries. However, after having waged a 20-year long war against the Taliban, the least that the Biden administration should have done is ensured that the organisation does not ride back to power days after the withdrawal of US troops. The Taliban is back in Kabul, and Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal policy is squarely to be blamed for it. The joke doing the rounds in India is that Kamala Harris would now truly be telling the US President, “We did it, Joe!”

2001: enter Afghanistan to oust Taliban

Spent 3 trillion dollars
2,41,000 people killed
2442 US soldiers lost
more than 20000 US soldiers wounded
Spend $90 billion in the name of preparing Afghan forces

2021: Leave without a plan, hand Afg back to Taliban

“We did it, Joe!”

— Shubhangi Sharma (@ItsShubhangi) August 15, 2021

During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, the United States had given birth to the Taliban. In order to counter Soviet influence over Afghanistan, Washington weaponised the country’s Islamist warlords, who went through several phases of groupings before eventually metamorphosising into the dreaded Taliban – which publicly executes people, molests women, oversees the imposition of Sharia law in its cruellest form and takes back Afghanistan by centuries. 

What the US gave rise to in Afghanistan was a snake, which came to bite Washington’s hands once it grew too powerful. The US invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, and dislodged Taliban from power. 20 years later, the Taliban should have been reduced to a mere memory, and a relic of the past. However, the Islamist organisation is stronger than it has ever been. And it has once again taken control of Afghanistan. The US has failed miserably in Afghanistan. 

Of course, Pakistan – a country which the US trusted for too long as a partner which was helping Washington fight the Taliban, ended up double-crossing it. Former President Donald Trump ceased all aid to Pakistan for its dirty games against American interests in Afghanistan. That policy – if continued by Joe Biden, would have weakened the Taliban. Pakistan is the patron of the Taliban. Weakening Pakistan would have directly impacted the Taliban.

Joe Biden has four years in office. Why the man was in such a dying hurry to evacuate from Afghanistan gives us a complete miss. Within his first year in office, Joe Biden has given rise to a disaster. The Taliban has become a regional threat now, and the US’ callousness is to be blamed for the same. The United States enters wars bombastically, thinking it is all-mighty and powerful. However, historically, the US has perfected the art of losing wars and withdrawing from them in haste – with scant regard for the geopolitical ramifications of its actions. Whether it be Vietnam or Afghanistan, the ability of America to run away is unparalleled.