The United States withdrawal from Afghanistan; from words to action

2020/10/20 | Note, political, top news

Strategic Council Online-- Opinion: The fact of the matter is that the United States has a long presence in Afghanistan and the reason for such occupancy is not Afghanistan or Afghans per se but it is related to China, Russia, Iran and other US rivals in the region. It should be noted that Afghanistan enjoys a strategic status in the US foreign policy to contain China; therefore, if we differentiate between these two points, then the issue of the presence of the US in Afghanistan becomes clarified to a great extent. Pirmohammad Mollazehi-Expert of Asia affairs

A Pentagon official recently was quoted as saying that the US government has intelligent and thoughtful plans for the possible withdrawal of all its troopers from Afghanistan until May 2021. The United States has in fact begun pulling some of its troops from Afghanistan after signing a peace agreement with the Taliban in Doha on 29 February 2020.

There are many ifs and buts concerning the announcement of Washington to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. In fact, contrary to the expectations, Americans will not fully withdraw from Afghanistan. In other words, as Donald Trump vowed during his election campaigns in 2016 to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan and Iraq and return them home, the American presidents is seeking to demonstrate to the public opinion that he has fulfilled his promise of withdrawal. And therefore, the issue of the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan is more of a public relations campaign and propaganda rather than reality. However, the main issue is that if Americans withdraw their forces from Afghanistan now, this does not mean that “all” American forces will pull out. In fact, the experience of Iraq is being repeated. In Iraq, we witnessed that the United States withdrew all its forces but only to return them later back to Iraq under the excuse of the “fight against terrorism”. And now we see Americans have even set up permanent military bases in Iraq. We are highly likely to see a similar scenario for Afghanistan; to put it differently, when the upcoming US presidential elections are over, there will be no reason for Trump, whether he wins or loses the elections, to fully evacuate from Afghanistan. In addition, the United States, after the upcoming election, can resort to the same old excuse of “the presence of terrorist groups such as Daesh in Afghanistan” to justify the continued presence of American forces there to operate against the terrorists. Therefore, we should differentiate between Trump’s PR campaign and propaganda purposes and what is going to happen in reality on the ground in Afghanistan. The fact of the matter is that the United States has long presence in Afghanistan and the reason for such occupancy is not Afghanistan or Afghans per se but it is related to China, Russia, Iran and other US rivals in the region. It should be noted that Afghanistan enjoys a strategic status in the US foreign policy to contain China; therefore, if we differentiate between these two points, then the issue of the presence of the US in Afghanistan becomes clarified to a great extent.

The reaction of the Taliban to the probable withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which is part of the agreement between the two parties, is also a matter for deliberation and discussion. It seems that in any case, the Taliban would welcome the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan; however, the main questions is whether the United States is going to leave to the Army of Afghanistan its military bases in places such as Bagram or Shoorab—both having been fully equipped with the latest weapons, telecommunications, logistics and surveillance—or Americans are going to pull out its sophisticated weapons and aircraft from Afghanistan? It appears that the Taliban have accepted during negotiations and as per the Doha agreement the partial presence of American forces in Afghanistan but both sides are presently in dire need of propaganda and PR show concerning the achievements of this deal. The Taliban needs to demonstrate that they expelled Americans from Afghanistan and the US president is in need of political leverage against his rival candidate on the verge of the upcoming US elections; therefore, if the issue of the pullout of American forces remains at the PR and propaganda level, both the Taliban and the US would enjoy and benefit from it. On the basis of such considerations, the scenario of the full pull out of US forces from Afghanistan is highly unlikely and therefore should not be believed.

NATO’s reaction to this decision of Washington is also worth mentioning. The NATO has said both American and NATO forces went to Afghanistan together and they will also withdraw together. In fact, the military section of Europe and the United States act in coordination and the US Army is in agreement with Europe. Therefore, everyone knows that this decision by Trump to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan is not going to happen in practice. Also, the difference between NATO and the US is not that much wide to create serious problems for each party. The reality is Europe is in need of the American military presence in the region and Europe as Europeans are still worried about Vladimir Putin’s rising power in Russia as he has ambitions to reconstruct power at the level of the former Soviet Union and former Soviet states are much worried about this issue. Therefore, what has caused differences between Trump and European countries is the pressure the United States is exerting on Europeans to pay for American military bases in those European countries. Washington is pursuing a similar approach in Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea and has even threatened Germany to withdraw American forces unless Berlin spends more money for American troops there. In this respect, we saw that the US pulled out many American forces from Germany and sent them to a military base in Belgium.

Such behaviour by Trump has created some doubts among the European leaders. However, and ultimately, if Trump is elected for the second time in office as president of the United States, then Europeans will have to get along with him and pay more costs to maintain the presence of American forces.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST CONTENT

Zionist Regime’s Post-War Map for Gaza

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Middle East issues said: After nearly 150 days have passed since the attacks of Israeli planes on Gaza and the unprecedented genocide in this city, regional and international efforts to end the Gaza crisis have intensified.

Reasons for Inaction & Inefficiency of Intl Organizations in Providing Aid to Gaza

Strategic Council Online: An expert on regional issues said: With the start of the Gaza war, many major powers and international organizations not only did not take honest action to support the defenseless Palestinian people, but instead, with their support for the actions of the Zionist regime, they caused their crimes to increase over the past five months.

France and the Two-State Solution in Occupied Territories

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.

The Prospect of US Military Withdrawal from Iraq

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Although most currents, politicians and even ordinary people in Iraq call for withdrawal of American military forces from their country, there are sometimes differences of opinion regarding the time of this withdrawal. On the one hand, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq, is very serious in demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Still, he wants to achieve this goal through “negotiation and political deal”. On the other hand, the Iraqi Resistance groups want the Americans to leave this country as soon as possible. The American side is also talking about a military withdrawal from Iraq in the next three years.

Russia’s Multifaceted Relations with Neighbors

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international affairs expert said: After Russia attacked Ukraine two years ago, the country’s relations with some of its European neighbors were severely disturbed in such a way that a clear future cannot be imagined for it.

Solution to Get Out of FATF Blacklist and Get Rid of Its Heavy Costs?

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Financial Action Task Force, FATF, announced on Friday, February 23, that the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains on the “blacklist” of this international organization. A decision that was not unexpected for the authorities of our country. According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, one day before the release of the FATF statement, due to the current sanctions, Iran is looking for its own FATF, as it uses other tools instead of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). On this basis, it seems that while the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon were removed from the “Grey List” of FATF in the previous reviews in June 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not trying to be exempted from the blacklist. But what kind of organization is FATF, and why are some in Iran against joining it? And what is the way out of this situation?

Loading

Últimas publicaciones

Zionist Regime’s Post-War Map for Gaza

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Middle East issues said: After nearly 150 days have passed since the attacks of Israeli planes on Gaza and the unprecedented genocide in this city, regional and international efforts to end the Gaza crisis have intensified.

Reasons for Inaction & Inefficiency of Intl Organizations in Providing Aid to Gaza

Strategic Council Online: An expert on regional issues said: With the start of the Gaza war, many major powers and international organizations not only did not take honest action to support the defenseless Palestinian people, but instead, with their support for the actions of the Zionist regime, they caused their crimes to increase over the past five months.

France and the Two-State Solution in Occupied Territories

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.

The Prospect of US Military Withdrawal from Iraq

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Although most currents, politicians and even ordinary people in Iraq call for withdrawal of American military forces from their country, there are sometimes differences of opinion regarding the time of this withdrawal. On the one hand, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq, is very serious in demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Still, he wants to achieve this goal through “negotiation and political deal”. On the other hand, the Iraqi Resistance groups want the Americans to leave this country as soon as possible. The American side is also talking about a military withdrawal from Iraq in the next three years.

Russia’s Multifaceted Relations with Neighbors

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international affairs expert said: After Russia attacked Ukraine two years ago, the country’s relations with some of its European neighbors were severely disturbed in such a way that a clear future cannot be imagined for it.

Solution to Get Out of FATF Blacklist and Get Rid of Its Heavy Costs?

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Financial Action Task Force, FATF, announced on Friday, February 23, that the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains on the “blacklist” of this international organization. A decision that was not unexpected for the authorities of our country. According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, one day before the release of the FATF statement, due to the current sanctions, Iran is looking for its own FATF, as it uses other tools instead of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). On this basis, it seems that while the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon were removed from the “Grey List” of FATF in the previous reviews in June 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not trying to be exempted from the blacklist. But what kind of organization is FATF, and why are some in Iran against joining it? And what is the way out of this situation?

Loading