USA replaced Taliban with Taliban, after 20 years and trillions of dollars. It was bound to happen. A total collapse of foreign-supported regime in Afghanistan. You cannot occupy a land for long with mercenaries. Taliban waited patiently for USA to get tired and no longer afford the war. A very smart move by the Taliban. They were simply buying their time. The Afghan army was never up for fighting. Most of them just took salaries and training from USA and then handed over weapons to Taliban because the Kabul govt is also corrupt and unpopular. Taliban actually negotiated with other war lords and gave them a safe passage. Now Taliban are in control, and we are back to square one.
The US goals were not very clear from the beginning. They came to uproot Alqaida and claimed that they have brought democracy to Afghanistan. Democracy can’t be successful in a tribal country like Afghanistan. You can’t force democracy on a social structure that wasn’t built for it. In case of Ashraf Ghani, he wasn’t even popular. Less than 10% people voted for him. And he wasn’t a tribal leader either. So the structure was supposed to fall and it did as soon as Americans begun their withdrawal.
In the end USA actually realized that Afghans are just asking for dollars from them and not doing anything on their own. Also, the US interests in the region have changed. USA wants to tackle China in some other way. Going to war is probably not an option on US cards. In region, US interests will take a dent. Russia and China will fill the vacuum. Chinese and Russians were supporting Taliban. That’s the reason that their embassies are still open in Kabul
Taliban will now announce their own president. All war lords have either fled or have negotiated with Taliban. So, this time their victory is more comprehensive. They are controlling the North now which they never did before. Taliban are looking towards China for investment. Also, they have no debts, or at least they will not accept any debts of previous regime. Let’s see how do they deal with the economy. The infrastructure built by USA is intact mostly. When Taliban surrendered, Afghanistan was a war-torn backward country and now Taliban got back a much developed country without spending a lot. So in the end, it’s a loss for USA and Western powers. Its time for them to realize to mind their own business and stop playing dirty games in Muslim world.
