An estimated quarter of a million people have died in the war in Afghanistan since 2001. Including 2,312 US, 454 British and 59 German soldiers. They should bring peace and democracy to the country. While the Soviets had held out for a decade before their disgraceful withdrawal from the Hindu Kush, the Western powers held out for two decades. Now the Taliban are advancing again. The great Western hopes of construction are in ruins. The US alone cost almost $ 1,000 billion over the 20 years. US President Donald Trump (75) initiated the withdrawal of land. A peace agreement shouldn’t hold up.
20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA that led to the war in Afghanistan, Afghan cities are falling like dominoes into the hands of radical warriors of God. As if all the victims in the West were in vain. Kunduz in the north, the strategically important Herat and Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, are again under the control of the radical Islamists. Now the Pentagon has sent 3,000 troops to Kabul. Another 4,500 troops are being put into readiness, reports “USA Today”. According to the newspaper, the Taliban are 100 miles from the capital.
Americans and British evacuate
According to “CBS News”, the troops begin evacuating the US embassy in Kabul. The staff is initially to be brought to Hamid Karzai International Airport. As early as Thursday, Washington called on all US citizens in the country to leave Afghanistan urgently. But people are on their own, is the instruction. The embassy couldn’t help. This while Pentagon spokesman John Kirby (58) spoke of a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Kabul.
The embassy will not be closed for the time being, assured Kirby. But events are taking place in Afghanistan. Great Britain has now also sent around 600 troops to Kabul to assist in the evacuation of British citizens and former Afghan employees. The Taliban usually show no mercy for collaborators. The Islamists also execute those who surrender. Last month the Taliban released a video showing their fighters mowing down 22 hijacked Afghan commandos.
Training the Afghan armed forces alone has cost the US around $ 80 billion over the past 20 years. These Afghan troops mostly give up their positions without a fight. According to agency reports, there is only sporadic fighting. Herat was bombed for two weeks, while Kandahar and Kunduz fell without a fight. The Taliban are marching virtually unhindered towards Kabul.
Last minute offers to the Taliban
The Afghan government and the former occupying power America are clinging to all straws to stop the fall of the capital. According to the “New York Times” US negotiators are currently trying to convince the radicals to spare the US embassy in Kabul. Otherwise Afghanistan will never receive US aid again, even if the Taliban are in power.
With last-minute attempts, the Afghan government has offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal. The jihadists are promised entry into the government – in return for stopping the military offensive. But the holy warriors sit on the longer lever.