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“Last night, in Kabul, the longest war in American history-the 20-year war in Afghanistan ended.” President Biden said in the beginning of his televised speech on the end of the war in Afghanistan.
Biden has no way to declare the success or failure of this war. He just keeps emphasizing that it was he and not the previous presidents who “successfully” ended the war. The failure of the war seems to be a self-evident conclusion, and the focus has become whether this protracted overseas war can be ended. The U.S. transport plane took off from Kabul Airport, one minute earlier than the scheduled time. This is the last decent point Biden won for this withdrawal.
The reason why Biden decisively ends this war is because this war has plunged the United States into chaos and has difficulty keeping up with the ever-changing world. During the long overseas wars, the US’s strategic focus has lost focus, even running counter to the world. There is almost no decent way to end the war in Afghanistan. In the end, Biden used tactical shame to correct the strategic direction of the United States. In the past 20 years, the United States has “bred” a strategic defeat with a tactical victory in Afghanistan. This cannot but be said to be a trap of great powers’ grand strategy.
1. The war in Afghanistan was defeated, but withdrawing troops was a victory
Biden gave a televised speech as soon as the U.S. military completed its retreat, putting an end to the 20-year war. Throughout the story, Biden wanted to prove to the Americans that his withdrawal was a huge victory. In 17 days, 120,000 people were withdrawn, 98% of Americans withdrew, and so on. In fact, Biden can defend himself with just one sentence. Throughout the history of the world, especially the history of American wars abroad, there is no decent way to end a war that has already failed, and there is no face-saving way to get out of the quagmire of war. Kissinger has experienced the “fall of Saigon”. He has only recently expressed his opinion on why the United States retreated to Kabul. Even if Kissinger replaces Brinken, he may not necessarily prevent the United States from “falling Kabul.”
The ability and efficiency of the United States to withdraw troops has been proven by facts, but this tactical result is the result of a strategic defeat. Biden gave the predecessor Trump and the Afghan government the hurried withdrawal of troops. Trump contacted and negotiated with the Taliban and signed an agreement, which stipulates that the U.S. military will withdraw on May 1 this year. Biden said that as soon as he took office, he was faced with the choice of whether to withdraw troops or not. In other words, Trump caused the situation now. In addition, what irritated Biden even more was that Afghan President Ghani’s “Thirty-Six Strategies is the best policy” and fled without resistance. The Afghan government forces, which the United States spent heavily on training, surrendered with almost no resistance. This made the withdrawal plan formulated by Biden and his team held dozens of meetings without the premise, that is, let the Afghan government and its troops retreat for the US military. Almost all the “black swan events” that changed the course of history were unpredictable and explainable afterwards, but the impact was huge.
Regardless of whether the withdrawal is decent or not, it is finally over. Biden did not leave a soldier in Afghanistan because he believes that Afghanistan has nothing to do with the interests and security of the United States. After ending this war, Biden’s top priority is to redefine the security and interests of the United States. He asked a question: If 9/11 were launched by terrorists from Yemen, would the United States still fight in Afghanistan? of course not. The only desirable and desirable goal of the American war in Afghanistan is to prevent terrorist organizations from posing a threat to the United States, but this war has become a “nation building” for Afghanistan. The end result is that the United States went to war in Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban regime. After the United States withdrew, the Taliban still held power in Kabul. Isn’t this a complete defeat?
Biden said that this is not only to end the war in Afghanistan, but also to end the era of rebuilding other countries through war. Trump made a similar statement at the graduation ceremony of the West Point Military Academy last year: The U.S. military is to protect the security and interests of the United States, not to carry out nation-building in remote areas unknown to the Americans. The war in Afghanistan changed from combating terrorist organizations to “imperial conquest”, just as the Roman Empire crossed the Danube into the forests of Germany. It was difficult to conquer and had to retreat. The end of the war in Afghanistan was a punishment for the impulse to conquer the American empire. Although Biden did not explicitly say, he basically accepted or suffered the consequences. Secretary of State Blincoln said vaguely, “This is also a time for reflection. The war in Afghanistan has been going on for 20 years. We must learn lessons and let these lessons have an impact on how we think about fundamental issues of national security and foreign policy. . We have a responsibility to do this for future diplomats, policy makers, military leaders and members of the armed forces. We have a responsibility to do this for the Americans.”