This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
------------------------

Afghans left to pick up the pieces of the West’s failed war

By:   []

Date: 2021-08

Military leaders in the United States and Britain, as well as allied countries, now accept that they have lost their war with the Taliban.

When US President Joe Biden confirmed his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, this was tacit acceptance of a position that is rarely stated so bluntly in public. Although General Austin S Miller, the US commander in Afghanistan, came close this week when he admitted it was worrisome that as his troops pull out, there has been a rapid loss of districts throughout the country to the Taliban.

Following the US lead, other NATO countries are also leaving quickly. The last 200 troops of the British contingent, from the 3rd battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, (the Black Watch) are also expected to leave shortly after a final flag-lowering ceremony. This will end a 20-year deployment by the UK, which has left 456 troops dead and thousands injured, with many of the latter suffering life-changing physical and mental consequences.

Almost all the other foreign troops have left, quietly and without ceremony. Most were there as small detachments of a handful of troops working on specific tasks. The larger groups, from Germany, Italy and Poland, have all gone, as have smaller units from Georgia, Romania, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Finland, Albania, North Macedonia and Luxembourg.

We win on government secrecy! We’ve just won a three-year transparency battle against Michael Gove’s department. Can you help us keep fighting government secrecy? Donate now

Only Turkey plans to keep a sizeable deployment in the country for the specific task of protecting Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. This may turn out to be a key task in the face of more conflict, no doubt part of Ankara’s determination to extend its influence in Central Asia.

Taliban biding their time

For the Americans, the largest US military base, Bagram, which is 50 kilometres north of Kabul and was originally a Soviet-era construction, was handed over to the Afghans on 1 July, three days before US Independence Day. All but the few remaining for diplomatic protection should be gone by late July.

In a sign of the Pentagon’s concern to complete the withdrawal safely, a second aircraft carrier battle group has been sent to the region. Led by the USS Ronald Reagan, it will join the USS Dwight D Eisenhower group, after the Eisenhower group’s three-month deployment was recently extended.

By moving a second carrier battle group within range of the country, the US has all the conceivable capacity it needs to maintain security during the withdrawal. However, this may turn out to be pointless because the Taliban are showing little interest in fighting US troops, instead concentrating on the Afghan government’s forces. This has been the situation for the best part of a year; their strategy being to avoid any attacks on foreign forces and just bide their time until the Americans and others leave and they can take over.
[END]

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/afghans-left-to-pick-up-the-pieces-of-the-wests-failed-war/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

OpenDemocracy via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/