By B.M. Jain, Chief Consultant, CASPEGS
The last vestiges of US troops bid adieu to Afghan soil at midnight of August 30 before the deadline set for 31st August. It is ironic that Afghan military forces of over 3 million surrendered to the Taliban’s mere 70,000 fighters. For this, many strategic analysts believe that President Ashraf Ghani’s weak and poor leadership compelled Afghan forces to surrender without firing a single shot, albeit equipped with a huge cache of American weapons. What is more troubling is the abysmal failure of US intelligence sources that it had little inkling of the Taliban’s swift capture of the Kabul city. U.S. and NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan were caught in a slumber! Moreover, President Biden’s ignominious withdrawal of US forces will be written in history as an act of unpardonable cowardice and will also be remembered as a “page of great shame.” It not only speaks of an apocalyptic defeat of a mighty superpower but also its bureaucratic languor in leaving behind sophisticated weapons and logistics worth billions of dollars to indirectly help build the Taliban’s military strength and its creaking infrastructure.
How should all these developments be interpreted?
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