-- Although the war ended with a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August, the fallout from the war continues to take its toll on the country as well as the region, arousing criticism of the United States' morbid fascination with military aggression.
-- Afghan conflicts had claimed the lives of more than 31,000 civilians and injured 62,000 others since 2009, according to the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission. Some 5.5 million Afghans had been displaced due to the U.S.-led war since 2012, according to official figures.
-- The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has shown that relying on military intervention to solve hotspot issues will lead nowhere. Dialogue and consultation are the only way for the war-torn country to achieve peace and stability.
BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Under the pretext of combating terrorism, the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001 and kicked off nearly two decades of occupation.
Twenty years later, the Central Asian country has been ripped apart by the prolonged war, with the economy destroyed and political structure wrecked. Let's not forget the thousands of civilians who were killed and the millions displaced.
Although the war ended with a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August, the fallout from the war continues to take its toll on the country as well as the region, arousing criticism of the United States' morbid fascination with military aggression.
A Taliban member walks past damaged vehicles at the Kabul airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2021. The Kabul airport was damaged with its many facilities destroyed during the withdrawal of the last U.S.-led forces and U.S.-led evacuation flights in late August. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
FROM ARROGANCE TO HUMILIATION
"The Americans invaded Afghanistan with arrogance, occupied the country for 20 years but went back home with humiliation after leaving Afghans in the doldrums and in disarray," Safar Mohammad, a taxi driver, told Xinhua.
After invading Afghanistan, the United States and its allies installed a Washington-backed administration composed mostly of personnel educated in the United States or other Western countries.
"The outcome of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan over the past 20 years and its irresponsible pullout is nothing more than extreme poverty and chaotic situation in the country," Mohammad said with sorrow.
"From dawn to dusk I drive my taxi on Kabul streets and can hardly earn to support my family," the taxi driver added.
Afghan conflicts had claimed the lives of more than 31,000 civilians and injured 62,000 others since 2009, according to the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission.
People shovel earth onto the tomb of a suicide attack victim during a funeral in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Rahmatullah Alizadah)
Some 5.5 million Afghans had been displaced due to the U.S.-led war since 2012, and in 2021 alone, some 634,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in the country, according to official figures.
More heartbreaking is the deaths of children. Between 2016 and 2020, about 1,600 children were killed in the U.S.-led airstrikes in Afghanistan, according to the Action on Armed Violence, a London-based charity.
"The pointless occupation of Afghanistan has ended with the troops pullout but the war-weary Afghans would continue to suffer due to extreme poverty and an uncertain future, which is the legacy of the aimless war," said Sayed Mohammad, a Kabul resident.
A CH-47 Chinook is loaded onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 28, 2021. (U.S. Central Command Public Affairs/Handout via Xinhua)
"STRATEGIC FAILURE"
The horrible chaos and bloodshed in Afghanistan have prompted more Americans, including senior officials and veterans who served in Afghanistan, to reflect on the U.S. debacle in the country.
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley during a Senate hearing on Sept. 28 called the U.S. withdrawal and the return of the Taliban to power a "strategic failure."
Milley, alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie, testified for the first time before Congress since the United States ended its longest war.
"It is obvious, the war in Afghanistan did not end on the terms we wanted, with the Taliban now in power in Kabul," Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"Strategically, the war is lost, the enemy is in Kabul. So you have a strategic failure..." he said, admitting that the withdrawal damaged U.S. credibility. "Damage is one word that could be used."
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Sept. 28, 2021. (Patrick Semansky/Pool via Xinhua)
Reflecting on the Afghan war, Austin questioned if the United States had the right strategy in place over the past two decades, adding that Washington might never fully comprehend the situation on the ground.
To veterans who fought the war, the "strategic failure" brought back traumatic memories of killings and destruction, triggering a wave of reflection and remorse.
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that a majority of U.S. military veterans said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting.
The center also found out that only 26 percent of Americans believed the Biden administration handled the Afghanistan situation well, and 69 percent of the public said the United States mostly failed in achieving its goals in Afghanistan.
Refugees from Afghanistan arrive at Skala Sikaminias on the island of Lesvos, Greece, March 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
CALLS FOR DIALOGUE
The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has shown that relying on military intervention to solve hotspot issues will lead nowhere. Dialogue and consultation are the only way for the war-torn country to achieve peace and stability.
During a video conference regarding Afghanistan among the foreign ministers of the Group of 20 on Sept. 23, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the changes in Afghanistan have aroused widespread concerns in the international community, and how it will evolve subsequently will have greater implications for international and regional peace and stability.
Wang said he hopes that the countries responsible for the current situation in Afghanistan will seriously reflect on what they have done, take more practical actions to alleviate the difficulties faced by the Afghan people as soon as possible, and fulfill their due responsibilities.
"Recent developments in Afghanistan show once again that military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said last week.
"Relevant countries must draw lessons from it and earnestly shoulder their due responsibilities," he added.
"China hopes that all parties in Afghanistan would resolve differences through dialogue and consultation, avert new conflicts and humanitarian disasters, and work toward a smooth transition in the Afghan situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing on Aug. 18.
People carry relief supplies donated by World Food Programme (WFP) in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2021. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)
During the United Nations General Assembly high-level session last month, several world leaders reflected on the failure of the United States and other Western countries in Afghanistan.
"We firmly believe that it is upon the people of Afghanistan to rebuild their country and decide the course of the future themselves," Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.
Noting the current situation in Afghanistan is disturbing for the long-suffering people of Afghanistan, for women and children, and for the international community, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called for "a strong and coordinated response."
"Military strength without the will to forge understanding, without the courage to engage in diplomacy, does not make the world more peaceful," German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. "We need strength at the negotiating table just as we need strength in defense." (Video reporters: Yang Dingdu, Jiang Chao and Tan Yixiao)■
