Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Iraq affairs said: Supporters of the US presence in Iraq think that with the withdrawal of America conditions similar to those created in Afghanistan will emerge and armed groups or similar ones will gain power in Iraq; but there are major differences between Iraq and Afghanistan.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asia affairs commenting on the reasons for the evacuation of three US military bases in Syria said: The United States is a traditional ally of the Syrian Kurds and through supporting Kurdish autonomy has made efforts and is still making in order to have a place to infiltrate Syria, especially in the oil rich areas; but nevertheless, the Syrian army’s domination on most areas has forced them to end their occupation of three military bases in Deir ez-Zor and al-Hasakah provinces.
Strategic Council Online – Note: After Vietnam, the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is the second US “fatal defeat” experience in a foreign war in the post-World War II era that has dealt a heavy blow on the US international standing.
Hamid Khoshayand – analyst of international affairs
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Afghan Taliban announced the names of key members of the new interim government last Tuesday. The structure of the interim government shows that the Taliban want to ensure its political domination and absolute control over the country, meaning that the Taliban at this stage prioritize solving political and security problems and internal consolidation in order to exercise supervision and sovereignty over the entire territory of Afghanistan.
Mohsen Sharif Khodaei – expert on international affairs
Strategic Council on Online-Interview: An analyst of Europe issues said most members of the European Union consider as a humiliation for European countries the collapse of the Afghan government and inability to protect Afghan citizens while emphasizing the formation of a rapid reaction force.
Strategic Council Online- Interview: An expert on the Middle East affairs having referred to the 20th anniversary of September 11attacks said:” September 11 was an event that took place at the beginning of the third millennium and 10 years after the cold war ended; a suspicious event that many considered it as the result of clandestine and top secret measures taken by neo-cons during George W. Bush (2001-2009) in the U.S. The group was in the Department of Defense and managed to implement the most extreme rightist policies at the time in order to pave the ground for stabilizing of the leadership role of the U.S. throughout the world”.
Strategic Council Online-Opinion: The outcomes and sideline events of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan remain at the center of attention by political and media circles of the region and the world. Even though the Biden administration is trying to justify the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on the basis of economic interests, it is clear that withdrawal from Afghanistan is the biggest “defeat” of the White House in the world after the second world war and has weakened the US ability to benefit from power and politics.
Hamid Khoshayand-Analyst of international issues
Strategic Council Online- Opinion: Joe Biden Administration policy to withdraw his forces from Afghanistan has once again bolded the issue of strategic autonomy of the European Union from the U.S. and setting up of the European army.
Alireza Samoodi, Expert on European Affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: A professor of the University of Tehran commenting about challenges of the US political-military strategy in the world said: After the Vietnam War, the US put a strategy on the agenda based on which it decided to arm its allies to ensure its security; but Washington’s decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan seems to be a sign of the failure of that strategy.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Turkey affairs commenting on Turkey’s new role in Afghanistan after the Taliban seizure of Kabul said: Ankara’s view of Kabul is a strategic one, and given the geopolitical situation of Afghanistan, in a long-term strategy, Turkey is striving for extensive military cooperation with that country, and in the meantime, Turkey’s good relations with Pakistan is strengthening this demand.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on US affairs commenting on whether Washington’s decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan is taking place at a time when the country has achieved its objectives or the decision indicates the ineffectiveness of the US strategy in Afghanistan, said: The US officials had set two targets at the time of the invasion of Afghanistan; the first was the fight against al-Qaeda terrorism and the second was the establishment of peace, stability and democracy in Afghanistan. But now that their forces are leaving Afghanistan, they claim that their mission has only been to eliminate al-Qaeda terrorism, and in this regard, they cite the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of that terrorist movement, as evidence to their claim.
Strategic Council Online- Interview: Former Director of Afghanistan Headquarter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that relations between Iran and Afghanistan during Ashraf Ghani were not good because he followed the US policies, and like-minded groups with Iran were isolated. He said Ashraf Ghani Administration was not only unable to establish good relations with Iran, but also his relations with Russia, China and other countries opposing the US, were not cozy either.
Strategic Council Online—Editorial: Numerous joint military drilles between China and Russia in recent years could be considered as one of the clear manifestations of the expansion and consolidation of cooperation between the two countries especially in the military front.
Mohammad Javad Qahremani—PhD in International Relations
Strategic Council Online- Interview: An Afghanistan expert commented on gaining power of Taliban as the cause of performance and strategic mistakes made by NATO and the US. He said:” with granting political legitimacy to Taliban, the US made the internal status of Afghanistan more complicated and endangered the stability and security of the region.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: Former Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan says the behavior of Americans towards Afghanistan has been irresponsible, adding that the present order in Afghanistan is the outcome of the First Bonne Conference in 2001; however, this order is collapsing and it seems that the future order in Afghanistan will be formed on the basis of the Doha Agreement.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A university professor said any instability and insecurity in Afghanistan can easily spread to Central Asian states and create numerous security challenges for them, adding that there is the concern that empowerment of a radical force in Afghanistan and or any other foreign instigation or movement can result in recruitment of social dissidents in Tajikistan and move this country towards serious challenges.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Afghanistan issues says on the reasons behind the decision by Joe Biden to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan by September that “it seems the main reason behind this decision is the prolongation of the presence of the US in Afghanistan as the US is present there close to two decades and in the meantime, various administrations in America have failed to realize the slogans they cried in these years.
Strategic Council Online: China has recently boycotted as many as 70 organs and citizens of the United States, among them Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce of Donald Trump administration is seen. This is a reaction to the similar measure taken by the US to boycott seven Chinese authorities. The action-reaction measure is considered as the continuation of the trade war launched during the Trump administration. Now, the question is: What are the leverages and capabilities of the two countries? How this confrontation will proceed?
Reza Majidzade, Researcher, development political economics
Strategic Council Online- Interview: A university professor said the US defeated in the materialization of her goals in Afghanistan and failed to create the order and pattern they claimed to establish there. He said the modality of the US exit from Afghanistan was quite wrong. Her performance has suddenly placed the Afghan government in a major crisis which can even proceed to collapse level.
Strategic Council Online – Evidence shows that developments in Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Cyprus and Greece will overshadow Turkey’s foreign policy in the coming months.
Mahmoud Fazeli – Analyst of international affairs
