Afghanistan's Eternal War: The Fall of Kabul
By Isabella Bernstein, 8/16/2021
On May 1, President Biden announced that the United States government would withdraw troops from Afghanistan after a bloody twenty year war. For many, this would mark the end of an era, one of seemingly eternal warfare. As the American military left Afghanistan in the hands of the Afghan government, the Taliban prepared to seize the nation. The national government had a tenuous grasp over its affairs. Before the last U.S. troops were set to leave on August 31, the Taliban, which controlled many territories across the country, captured Jalalabad. The terrorist organization set their eyes on Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Without a fight, the city fell on August 15.
Kabul is no stranger to insurgency and attack. In 1979, the Soviet Union assumed power after the collapse of the Afghan state, formerly led by Hafizullah Amin. For a decade, Afghanistan was a Soviet puppet state until the mujahideen, once supported by the United States, joined forces with Al-Qaeda and ousted the Soviets. During this time, the mujahideen established a transitional government, but it was politically unstable. In 1996, after the country experienced a power vacuum due to governmental fragmentation, the Taliban seized Kabul.
The Taliban controlled the city until the 2001 American-led invasion post-9/11. The war in Afghanistan had three phases. The first phase lasted a mere two months. The United States, backed by its Western allies, planned to dismantle the ultraconservative Taliban, the group that provided asylum to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. When the Taliban refused to divulge the members responsible for the terror attack, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan. In December of 2001, Afghan government leaders appointed Hamid Karzai as interim president. With Karzai, the United States worked to defeat the Taliban’s military and rebuild Afghanistan as a democratic nation. The U.S. spent thirty eight billion dollars during the second phase of this endeavor. “More than half the money went to training and equipping Afghan security forces, and the remainder represented a fraction of the amount that experts said would be required to develop a country that had consistently ranked near the bottom of global human development indices. The aid program was also bedeviled by waste and by confusion over whether civilian or military authorities had responsibility for leading education, health, agriculture, and other development projects.”
The third phase took place during the Obama administration. The administration increased the number of troops in Afghanistan to protect the population against Taliban insurgencies. While the U.S. government sought to reintegrate Taliban members into society and return power to the Afghan police and military, reconciliation failed. Despite training, the state failed to hold off the Taliban. Coupled with losing a thousand troops, anti-Western sentiments festered among the Afghan population due to prolonged American presence in Kabul.
In 2014, Nato ended its mission in Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan military to protect an increasingly fragile democracy. The Taliban quickly gained strength and embarked on a path to topple the national government. However, confident that the Afghan military was equipped to manage the situation at hand, the U.S. drafted plans to withdraw troops, a mistake that proved to be devastating.
In spite of a two decade conflict and billions of dollars spent, the weak Afghan government collapsed. Corruption and mismanagement are partially to blame. The government failed to pay their police and military and stationed them far from their homes. They grew increasingly desperate, which would explain why Kabul easily fell to the Taliban, as Afghan defenses were scarcely able to put up a fight. Conflict within the U.S. is also to blame. While the Biden administration remained convinced that the state was well-equipped, the circumstances on the ground in Afghanistan said otherwise. The Afghan government simply did not have the funds to defend itself independently. Meanwhile, the Pentagon staunchly remained in favor of keeping troops in the country for counterterrorism measures. Overall, the United States “overestimated resources given and underestimated the Taliban’s power.”
Over the past two decades, Afghanistan has incurred heavy losses. “Brown University estimates losses in the Afghan security forces at sixty-nine thousand. It puts the number of civilians and militants killed at about fifty-one thousand each.” As Kabul quickly fell, it is accurate to say that Afghanistan has lost its autonomy. President Ashraf Ghani has fled. Once again, the country experienced a power vacuum that a terrorist organization swiftly filled.
Currently, the Taliban promises peace. According to Taliban spokespeople, the organization would not allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist state. The Taliban states that it would establish an Islamic government that respects freedoms within Sharia law. Allegedly, the new government is willing to support the Afghan population. However, it is important to ask if this peaceful transfer of power is just a facade.
The Taliban states that it will not penalize people who worked for the government. Yet, last month, they killed twenty seven people who cooperated with the government. The Taliban also states that it will not participate in any international peace conferences until all foreign forces are off Afghan soil. Hypocritical actions like these demonstrate that a peaceful transfer of power is highly unlikely.
Now that the Taliban controls Kabul, Afghanistan has officially fallen. The majority of foreign officials and embassy personnel have evacuated while thousands of Afghan citizens desperately try to escape. They are stranded with minimal resources and a sliver of hope that they might get the chance to leave. According to reports from The New York Times, “Most shops were shuttered, cutting Afghans off from food and other supplies. Families crammed personal mementos and clothing into suitcases, then abandoned their homes as they pleaded and offered bribes to secure flights out of the city.” Humanitarian, political, diplomatic, and economic crises loom.
Humanitarian Crises:
Kabul was once home to numerous hospitals. Many individuals flocked to the capital city to receive treatment. Under the Taliban’s control, hospitals will crumble. This lack of healthcare access is alarming, especially due to the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women fear restrictions on their freedoms. Many women went to school, worked, and enjoyed relative liberty in Kabul. Now, they worry that they might be shut away in their homes, subject to abuse. The progress that women have made could be erased. Women bear the brunt of this uncertainty during this time.
Food and water will be scarce. Looters have already taken these items in the hope of surviving strict Taliban rule.
Kabul housed nearly all Afghan media. Software development, information management, and telecommunications took place here. Civilians now fear the loss of independent media and anticipate the return of state-run news.
Political and Diplomatic Crises:
The future of the government remains a mystery. Will there be elections? What laws will the government uphold? What rights will the people have? Which rights will be taken away? Who will be the new leader? What is the new political system? Will the Constitution of 2004 be obsolete? Which countries will recognize Taliban-led Afghanistan? Which ones will not? How much contact will Afghanistan have with the rest of the world?
Economic Crises:
Questions emerged over the funds, both foreign and domestic, available to the Taliban. Da Afghanistan Bank, which is headquartered in Kabul, was responsible for the Afghan government’s finances. Currently, the amount of money has not been disclosed. People fear that the Taliban would plunge the country into economic ruin.
In the past decade, Kabul has experienced infrastructure growth. The city has expanded to include shopping malls and factories in the north bank of the Kabul River. Under Taliban rule, citizens expect to lose their jobs and struggle to find new ones, as unemployment will likely rise dramatically.
As the Taliban begins its rule over Afghanistan, the nation prepares itself for another seemingly eternal war.
Kabul is no stranger to insurgency and attack. In 1979, the Soviet Union assumed power after the collapse of the Afghan state, formerly led by Hafizullah Amin. For a decade, Afghanistan was a Soviet puppet state until the mujahideen, once supported by the United States, joined forces with Al-Qaeda and ousted the Soviets. During this time, the mujahideen established a transitional government, but it was politically unstable. In 1996, after the country experienced a power vacuum due to governmental fragmentation, the Taliban seized Kabul.
The Taliban controlled the city until the 2001 American-led invasion post-9/11. The war in Afghanistan had three phases. The first phase lasted a mere two months. The United States, backed by its Western allies, planned to dismantle the ultraconservative Taliban, the group that provided asylum to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. When the Taliban refused to divulge the members responsible for the terror attack, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan. In December of 2001, Afghan government leaders appointed Hamid Karzai as interim president. With Karzai, the United States worked to defeat the Taliban’s military and rebuild Afghanistan as a democratic nation. The U.S. spent thirty eight billion dollars during the second phase of this endeavor. “More than half the money went to training and equipping Afghan security forces, and the remainder represented a fraction of the amount that experts said would be required to develop a country that had consistently ranked near the bottom of global human development indices. The aid program was also bedeviled by waste and by confusion over whether civilian or military authorities had responsibility for leading education, health, agriculture, and other development projects.”
The third phase took place during the Obama administration. The administration increased the number of troops in Afghanistan to protect the population against Taliban insurgencies. While the U.S. government sought to reintegrate Taliban members into society and return power to the Afghan police and military, reconciliation failed. Despite training, the state failed to hold off the Taliban. Coupled with losing a thousand troops, anti-Western sentiments festered among the Afghan population due to prolonged American presence in Kabul.
In 2014, Nato ended its mission in Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan military to protect an increasingly fragile democracy. The Taliban quickly gained strength and embarked on a path to topple the national government. However, confident that the Afghan military was equipped to manage the situation at hand, the U.S. drafted plans to withdraw troops, a mistake that proved to be devastating.
In spite of a two decade conflict and billions of dollars spent, the weak Afghan government collapsed. Corruption and mismanagement are partially to blame. The government failed to pay their police and military and stationed them far from their homes. They grew increasingly desperate, which would explain why Kabul easily fell to the Taliban, as Afghan defenses were scarcely able to put up a fight. Conflict within the U.S. is also to blame. While the Biden administration remained convinced that the state was well-equipped, the circumstances on the ground in Afghanistan said otherwise. The Afghan government simply did not have the funds to defend itself independently. Meanwhile, the Pentagon staunchly remained in favor of keeping troops in the country for counterterrorism measures. Overall, the United States “overestimated resources given and underestimated the Taliban’s power.”
Over the past two decades, Afghanistan has incurred heavy losses. “Brown University estimates losses in the Afghan security forces at sixty-nine thousand. It puts the number of civilians and militants killed at about fifty-one thousand each.” As Kabul quickly fell, it is accurate to say that Afghanistan has lost its autonomy. President Ashraf Ghani has fled. Once again, the country experienced a power vacuum that a terrorist organization swiftly filled.
Currently, the Taliban promises peace. According to Taliban spokespeople, the organization would not allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist state. The Taliban states that it would establish an Islamic government that respects freedoms within Sharia law. Allegedly, the new government is willing to support the Afghan population. However, it is important to ask if this peaceful transfer of power is just a facade.
The Taliban states that it will not penalize people who worked for the government. Yet, last month, they killed twenty seven people who cooperated with the government. The Taliban also states that it will not participate in any international peace conferences until all foreign forces are off Afghan soil. Hypocritical actions like these demonstrate that a peaceful transfer of power is highly unlikely.
Now that the Taliban controls Kabul, Afghanistan has officially fallen. The majority of foreign officials and embassy personnel have evacuated while thousands of Afghan citizens desperately try to escape. They are stranded with minimal resources and a sliver of hope that they might get the chance to leave. According to reports from The New York Times, “Most shops were shuttered, cutting Afghans off from food and other supplies. Families crammed personal mementos and clothing into suitcases, then abandoned their homes as they pleaded and offered bribes to secure flights out of the city.” Humanitarian, political, diplomatic, and economic crises loom.
Humanitarian Crises:
Kabul was once home to numerous hospitals. Many individuals flocked to the capital city to receive treatment. Under the Taliban’s control, hospitals will crumble. This lack of healthcare access is alarming, especially due to the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women fear restrictions on their freedoms. Many women went to school, worked, and enjoyed relative liberty in Kabul. Now, they worry that they might be shut away in their homes, subject to abuse. The progress that women have made could be erased. Women bear the brunt of this uncertainty during this time.
Food and water will be scarce. Looters have already taken these items in the hope of surviving strict Taliban rule.
Kabul housed nearly all Afghan media. Software development, information management, and telecommunications took place here. Civilians now fear the loss of independent media and anticipate the return of state-run news.
Political and Diplomatic Crises:
The future of the government remains a mystery. Will there be elections? What laws will the government uphold? What rights will the people have? Which rights will be taken away? Who will be the new leader? What is the new political system? Will the Constitution of 2004 be obsolete? Which countries will recognize Taliban-led Afghanistan? Which ones will not? How much contact will Afghanistan have with the rest of the world?
Economic Crises:
Questions emerged over the funds, both foreign and domestic, available to the Taliban. Da Afghanistan Bank, which is headquartered in Kabul, was responsible for the Afghan government’s finances. Currently, the amount of money has not been disclosed. People fear that the Taliban would plunge the country into economic ruin.
In the past decade, Kabul has experienced infrastructure growth. The city has expanded to include shopping malls and factories in the north bank of the Kabul River. Under Taliban rule, citizens expect to lose their jobs and struggle to find new ones, as unemployment will likely rise dramatically.
As the Taliban begins its rule over Afghanistan, the nation prepares itself for another seemingly eternal war.
