Déjà vu all over again!
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
The recent scene at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, put me in mind of a similar scene in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1975. Helicopters frantically evacuated American personnel when the enemy was at the gates of the city demanding an unconditional surrender. The Joe Biden administration has denied any such comparison, but the cameras do not lie (and neither does The Chas). A 20-year experiment in nation-building in our image, such chutzpah, finally has ground to another ignominious ending because it was destined to end.
Historians throughout the world and the years have viewed Afghanistan as the “graveyard of empires,” meaning that it was unconquerable. The greatest military genius in the whole history of humankind, Alexander of Macedonia, could not conquer it; he had to retreat to Egypt, where he died soon afterwards. In modern times, no such geniuses have appeared on the world stage; our generals are just stodgy old fools with delusions of grandeur. The British tried, and failed. The Russians tried, and failed. The Americans tried, and failed. The Afghan people simply do not want foreigners in their country and will move mountains to keep them out, no matter how long it takes.
For those readers who do not remember history, here’s a recap:
In 2002, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan after chasing the Russians out in 1989. Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the attacks against the United States on 9/11/2001, was their guest. The administration of George W. Bush demanded that he be surrendered to the U.S. to face justice. The Taliban refused to do so unless the U.S. provided evidence of bin Laden’s guilt. Bush could not do that, because there never was any evidence, only wishful thinking.
Thus stymied, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban fled into the mountains in the north and from there conducted a long period of guerrilla warfare. The United States remained in the country in order to maintain the government it had set up, 20 years of propping up one corrupt regime after another. The Afghan generals did not take their American trainers seriously, because, hey, the Pentagon was all too willing to carry the water, because it meant unending increases in its budget.
And now the crocodile tears are being shed. Breasts are being beaten. Fingers are being pointed. The accusations and counter-accusations are flying about like a swarm of angry hornets. America has lost Afghanistan just as it lost Vietnam, don’t you know? Never mind that neither of those countries was ours to win or lose in the first place. They were simply chess pieces on a global playing board, being moved about in one gambit after another. Well, folks, the newest gambit failed due to faulty policies, faulty intelligence, faulty strategy, faulty alliances, faulty this, that, and the other.
Republicans (and some Democrats) are blaming Biden for letting the team down. But he had made a promise to the American people, and he kept it despite the grumping of our stodgy old generals. In point of fact, Donald J. Trump attempted to negotiate with the Taliban in search of an agreement for power-sharing in Kabul. He even bragged about how he was the only one who could make such a deal! The negotiations went nowhere, of course, and T. Rump focused his attention on his re-election campaign (which went nowhere).
Sidebar: Russia is currently making nice to the Taliban (Vladimir Putin does not remember history either) in order to fill the vacuum left by the retreating Americans. Putin is being too clever for his own good in the moving of his chess pieces. He forgets that the southwest of the Russian Federation is predominantly Muslim. It would not surprise me at all that those Muslims might see the Taliban victory as a renewed call to action in their neighborhood.
The Big Question of the day is whether the Taliban are being truthful about not being the Taliban of old, but are willing to allow some Westernization to remain behind. So far, they’ve met one protest with deadly force; and shortly after the last planeload of Americans lifted off, a spokesperson announced a return to strict Islamic law. In this regard, I read a recent essay by a Muslim scholar who claimed that the Taliban does not speak for all Muslims and that Islamic law is interpreted differently by the several Muslim factions. If this is so, then the Taliban will have a hard row to hoe, and civil war may return to a country which has seen far too much of it.
It does not mean, however, that the United States should return to Afghanistan. Oh, no! The U.S. should instead should remember the past and adopt a policy of strict neutrality as our first president enjoined us.
Just a thought.