Beyond Afghanistan

The current chaos in Afghanistan does not mean the debacle of the West, which must recompose its forces and commitments. The world is not coming to an end for the West because of the disaster that the final stretch of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is entailing. The new experts after a library binge are spouting apocalyptic messages about the death of the United States and NATO in Afghanistan and China appears as the new master of the world. 

The sheer appearance of chaos at Kabul airport, aggravated by a terrorist attack with more than 110 dead, encourages us to think about the loss of all influence, the crisis of values that condemns us to a stormy decadence, the low status of our countries' political leaders and a 'low cost' society where the only thing that counts is the bottom line and the highest possible profits at all costs. Many of these negative factors, and others that also contribute to living in a permanent crisis, are very true. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a severe blow that makes the situation even more serious. But the problem is not a new one. These days, as is usual when the water is up to your neck, hasty diagnoses are made, external culprits are sought in adversaries and catastrophic sentences are intoned that aim, above all, to wear down the adversary either to remain in power or to achieve it, thanks to the populist and electioneering marketing techniques that dominate politics and too many media outlets. 

Of course, the deep crisis of all kinds that the West is suffering, some countries more than others as always, is not of now because US President Joe Biden is executing the decision to abandon Afghanistan in an appalling and humiliating manner. The crucial mistake was to stay so long in Afghanistan when the main mission of dismantling the structures and funding of Al-Qaeda terrorists and liquidating their leaders and mercenaries had been accomplished on 2 May 2011 with the death of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, a city in Pakistan, by the way. Afghanistan has been a bottomless pit of lives, money and corruption since the first minute of the invasion in October 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. Especially when two years later, in 2003, the invasion of Iraq was launched, and the two campaigns continued at the same time. There are transcendent geostrategic interests in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and the decision to end the mission was not an easy one. It turns out that this decision is the one that will allow the West to reengage with China on better terms as long as everyone honours their commitments.