US has been fighting in Afghanistan since 20 years along with NATO forces and the biggest military machine in the history of mankind, spent more than 2 trillion dollars on the war, lost thousands of own troops and seen deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and civilians.
After 9/11 Pakistan was told that US is a wounded bear and you have no option other than saying yes sir to whatever the US orders you to do. I still remember the famous saying of president Bush “Either you are with us or against us” Pakistan was left with no choice but to join the US war, which costs Pakistan 70 thousand civilians dead including young officers from armed forces and over 100 billion dollars lost to the economy.
When US was entering Afghanistan the leader of Taliban “Mullah Umar” said you want to fight with us you are welcome but remember that you have never won a war and we haven’t lost a war. Afghan Taliban fought the war with the ideology of “Jihad” and for them, it was a “Holy war” in which they had nothing to lose.
Now after 20 years America is calling an end to the whole sorry adventure, with almost nothing to show for it.
True, al-Qaeda, which sparked the war by planning 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan, is no longer much of a force in the country, although it has not been eliminated entirely. But that is about as far as it goes. Other anti-American terror groups, including a branch of Islamic State, continue to operate in Afghanistan. The zealots of the Taliban, who harboured Osama bin Laden and were overthrown by American-backed forces after 9/11, have made a horrifying comeback. They are in complete control of about half the country and threatened to conquer the rest. The democratic, pro-Western government fostered by so much American blood and money is corrupt, widely reviled and in steady retreat.
America’s war in Afghanistan is ending in crushing defeat
The consequences of the conflict for Afghans, already catastrophic, are likely to get worse.
Once again US is leaving Afghanistan in complete chaos and devastation, the same way they left when the Soviets were defeated. The stakeholders of South Asia has to intervene as soon as possible for peace and dialogue in the region because we are not in the position to handle another civil war that will cause terrible bloodshed.