The ongoing debacle in Afghanistan, which defies all logic and description, may have signalled the moment when the Western Bloc and our allies in the Indo Pacific region lose more than a little faith in the umbrella of military protection that has been provided to us all for decades by the United States and NATO.
This would be a serious mistake if it were to be overplayed, especially in the long term.
Why so?
From a British point of view, the strategic defence of our global interests is tightly and irrevocably linked to proactive cooperation with and support of the United States Navy power projection capability. But there is more to power projection than a robust military presence that deters those that would harm us. It goes hand-in-hand with maintaining the moral high ground that is the very foundation of Western democracy.
The ill-conceived, unilateral and publicly declared decision taken by the President of the United States (POTUS) for the precipitous and disorganized withdrawal of the US military presence in Afghanistan by a specific date appears to have been taken against the learned and combined advice of the US Intelligence Services, the Pentagon and the State Department. The poor planning and execution of the withdrawal is failing to safeguard the lives and interests of the Afghanis and NGOs who have provided vital support to the Coalition effort since 2001. This has raised serious doubts about that “moral high ground” and about the further actions which he, POTUS, may or may not take to fulfill promises made to other Allies, particularly Israel and those in the Indo Pacific region.
The ramifications of the poorly planned withdrawal could indeed be earth shattering in more ways than one.
One of the most challenging issues that the free world faces today is that the Commander in Chief of US Armed Forces, POTUS, appears to be controlled by his “handlers” who, as Biden himself has admitted, have been telling him what to say throughout his short tenure in office. He appears to be incapable of “thinking on his feet” and of assimilating/understanding the fruits of his Administration’s questionable actions and statements.
Conflicting reports emanating from the Intelligence Services, the Pentagon and the State Department would appear to be the result of “gagging” and censorship by the political establishment. (Britain also suffers from such malignancy.) One may reasonably suggest that this smacks of the type of Stalinistic control that existed within the Soviet Union for which the Russian people have paid a heavy price.
If “leaders” are to earn full respect from their subordinates and the grassroots, Commanders have to take heed of expert military advice from the frontline when creating an effective plan of action. Especially when the Commander is a politician with no military background or expertise. Failure to do so is now being shown to result in disaster especially in the context of the military mission in Afghanistan.
We are now witnessing an event of immense global significance that has been created by one man who has committed US military forces to a “Non-combat Mission”. This is a farcical description of the mission in hand! As a result, those forces, the forces of allies who had no choice but to try to accommodate POTUS’ lack of planning and common sense and, critically, the thousands of civilians who need to be protected and rescued are now in mortal danger. Some are already being slaughtered.
Despite this shameful situation, we should try not to let the incompetence of one individual, however powerful on paper, permanently destroy the competent and vital synergy that exists between the United States and other closely allied and dependent nations.
The Five Eyes Intelligence Community and associated international groups represent the insurance of continued Western world values and, ultimately, survival. If POTUS continues to make unilateral decisions without heeding the advice of these and other agencies and of Allied powers, we shall soon be faced by a nightmare scenario. Appeasement and overrated diplomacy will not protect our friends in the Indo Pacific region or in the Middle East.
One needs to ask and to establish whether the liberal pandemic of wokery and political correctness within the corridors of power in the Western world has had a malign effect on the focus of some of our National Security leaders. You may remember that the Soviet leader, Kruschev, predicted that this would occur after the turn-of-the-century. Was he right?
Biden has been haunted by the war in Vietnam for a long time and I think he looked at Afghanistan as a another Vietnam. Trump didn’t help things by releasing those 5000 prisoners and saying that the US will be leaving. Another factor is the Afghan army didn’t want to fight for a corrupt government. The US and NATO just handed over trucks loads of money to certain Afghan people and so much of it went straight into their back pockets and not give to the people who need it. Which reminds me very much of Vietnam. Several US presidents have made some huge errors in Afghanistan I guess if they done it right in the first place like not sending troops to Iraq not long after they had taken over the country things might have been very different now.
Biden has been haunted by the war in Vietnam for a long time and I think he looked at Afghanistan as a another Vietnam. Trump didn’t help things by releasing those 5000 prisoners and saying that the US will be leaving.
Another factor is the Afghan army didn’t want to fight for a corrupt government. The US and NATO just handed over trucks loads of money to certain Afghan people and so much of it went straight into their back pockets and not give to the people who need it. Which reminds me very much of Vietnam. Several US presidents have made some huge errors in Afghanistan I guess if they done it right in the first place like not sending troops to Iraq not long after they had taken over the country things might have been very different now.