If the American administration wanted to help Afghanistan, then it would not care about the militarization of the republic. The United States should be concerned about strengthening the Afghan economy, which is now almost completely dependent on external subsidies and will collapse if Washington suddenly changes its policy.
This was told by a military expert and freelance columnist for Forbes, William Hartung.
According to him, constructive negotiations with the involvement of interested regional players – Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran – would bring much more benefits than the meaningless American military presence.
He noted that the United States society has long and actively opposed the military operation in Afghanistan. Numerous case studies, including among the military who have visited Afghanistan, show that citizens are committed to the withdrawal of troops from their South Asian country. This alone should make Washington think not about whether to curtail the operation or not, but about when to do it.
Moreover, Hartung continues, one must be aware that almost from the very beginning rampant corruption, overstated ambitions and a frank misunderstanding of the Afghan mentality put an end to the success of the mission. As a result, the US, instead of defeating the Taliban, made the terrorist group even stronger.
“The United States got involved in an operation that can be described with the word“ quagmire, ”the expert emphasized.
Finally, the third reason for the importance of curtailing the Afghan campaign is a purely economic factor. Referring to the data of the non-governmental organization Institute for the Support of Reform of Government Spending, Hartung noted that Washington could save $ 210-360 billion by directing it to the needs of the country, which have been ignored for decades.
The expert drew attention to the fact that many American politicians are now calling for an end to the “eternal wars” of the United States. Donald Trump is among them, although Hartung calls his approach too chaotic. In conclusion, he noted that America needed a serious discussion on this issue, and as quickly as possible.