Yesterday, the media questioned the American presence in Afghanistan. Today, the media are crying wolf over the chaos of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Tomorrow, the media will blame the US government(s) for its long overdue (successful) troop withdrawal. It’s always the same: the media are like an eternal opposition party.
I expect this approach from liberal-left media as they always attack anyone, including their own. However, even the conservative-right media are playing this game. Rather than supporting Biden over executing a Trump promise, they are all over him. Why is it so hard saying that Trump and Biden made the right decision? Why keep foreign troops in a country that is not even willing to defend itself?
The speed of the collapse was also a surprise to me. Apparently, the Afghan army faced mass desertions and its elected president fled the country asap. Hence, the American conclusion: “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war, that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.” (BBC). Indeed, only the media are willing dispute this sound reasoning.
Afghanistan is now the primary problem of China, Iran, Pakistan and Soviet Russia, its neighbouring countries. China should fear the most given its treatment of Uyghur and other muslims (eg, Dubai blacksite, internment camps). Afghanistan might be a secondary problem to the rest of the world but there isn’t much evidence for that assertion.
My gut feeling is that Afghanistan will lose its status as a country and become a region like Kurdistan, threatened by its powerful neighbours (eg, Iran, Turkey). I expect that China will occupy the Wakhan corridor, “a narrow strip of territory in Afghanistan, extending to China and separating Tajikistan from Pakistan”, in order to prevent the Taliban from entering into the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
China will soon experience what Soviet Russia (1979-1989) and USA (2001-2021) have already learned: defeating the mujahideen and/or Taliban is impossible. You can only learn to live with their presence, like with viruses.
Given China’s initial remarks (“… we respect the wishes and choices of the Afghan people”), the Taliban should consider themselves as warned because contemporary China has never ever respected “the wishes and choices” of any people under their rule (eg, HongKong, Tibet, Uyghur).
China In Your Hand (1987) by T’Pau
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Don’t push too far
Your dreams are china in your hand
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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