On September 14th, 2021, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken testified before the US foreign Relations Committee that the US had not “anticipated” the collapse of the Afghani government and its military to come about so suddenly.
What had the US expected, that the Afghani administration would start a civil war so that the US could have more time to extract from the country the American citizens and those that helped the American efforts during the 20 years of occupation?
Blinken’s statement becomes even more troublesome to accept if we consider the fact that the Trump Administration, after the great loss of American soldiers, and spending billion dollars to build that country’s government, police and military forces, instead of negotiating the exit agreement with the legitimate democratically elected government, it–the Trump administration–chose to negotiate with the rebel Taliban instead. In negotiating with the Taliban, the US betrayed its own established Afghani government, placing it under a death sentence from that day forward.
Now why does the US Administration show incredulity and dismay, accusing Afghani President Ashraf Ghani of “flee[ing] ” the country? Could it be that some people in the US government wanted civil troubles there so that they could discredit the Biden administration? Or was it expected that the US military would return to that country to establish law and order; something that they were unable to achieve in Afghanistan?
Furthermore, in my opinion President Ghani did not show weakness and did not betray his country by ceding his government to the Taliban. For it was the US that had betrayed Ghani first when the Trump Administration chose to deal with the Taliban, thereby discrediting the legitimate government.
A similar incident comes to mind regarding Giuseppe Garibaldi, “the hero of the two worlds”. When he received President Abraham Lincoln’s request to lead the Northern Army against the Confederates during the US Civil War, he turned the offer down only so he could liberate and unite his own country, Italy. This is the same person who with only a thousand men, landing first in Sicily, did liberate most of Italy; but only to cede it voluntarily to the then Northern Italian King in order to prevent further bloodshed. The act of president Ghani to cede the country to the Taliban, just like Garibaldi’s act, was a sign of strength, not weakness. By not fighting their compatriots, both saved thousands of lives.
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