Imperial theft

The subjugation of one nation by another, i.e. colonialism, takes on various bodies and forms throughout history. The objectives of colonialist nations may vary according to the socio-spatial environment presented, but in all cases, there is a central objective common to all these countries: the search for the riches of the colonized nations. From the colonialism of the 14th and 17th century, with Europeans invading the "new world", to the neo-colonialists of the 19th and 20th century, dividing Africa and Asia with the ethnocentric legitimation of the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), the dominating nations violently imposed their cultures and plundered the wealth of the dominated nations. However, these characteristics did not cease with the end of the "cold war", the decolonization of the 20th century, or the beginning of new world order, in fact, these characteristics were amplified and reformulated. Neoliberal colonialism, which emerged in the post-bipartition period of the world and led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, mainly, by the United States (USA), is renovating its colonies and expropriating its riches, and the greatest example is Afghanistan, even after the US left the country.

The capture of Kabul

On August 15, 2021, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, was seized by the Taliban, and the event symbolically showed the world that they were in control of the country once again. After the Islamic nationalists arrived in the city, the population was in a state of panic and desperately tried to leave the country. The photos at the airports and the chaos in the city express are a clear indication of this state. The Islamic group had not been in Kabul since 2001, where it was kicked out by the US in its so-called “War on Terror”, and when it returned to the city, it put into practice its old, distorted, and authoritarian version of Islam. Any possible social development was only feasible after April 2021, when Joe Biden, US President, carried out the withdrawal of troops from the country, allegedly planned since the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021). The exit took place as planned, but the lack of preparation and execution created risks for both Americans and the country's own population. But, if we compare it with the withdrawal from Vietnam, the country was extremely damaged taking the geopolitical context into consideration, as well as its zones of influence, unlike the departure from Saigon in which the Americans had a consolation prize for the rapprochement with China in the Nixon administration (1969-1974). In addition, the occupation left numerous contradictions in the air and criticism of the two decades of occupation by the North Americans in the country, two of which stand out: first, for socioeconomic reasons, the country was left in despair and worse than twenty years ago, while the military-industrial complex reveled in billions of dollars in war; second, on an ideological level, the false peacekeeping role of the USA, because in a matter of days the Taliban took over the country and showed that it was stronger and more popular than it was two decades ago to the extent it seemed that they had not fought a war with the West. Thus, we ask: what was the purpose of the occupation? Not even the Americans themselves know, let alone the Afghans, but we know that introducing "democracy, freedom, and peace" was never a goal - in fact, this only exists in American sensationalist narratives. The occupation of the country and the attitudes of the empire reinforce the thesis of critics of its foreign policy: that the country does not care about the population of the dominated nations, but about the gains of the pro-war corporations and their oligarchies.

Robbery and hunger: common practices in the politics of empires

Even after leaving the country in the dust and worse than twenty years ago, Joe Biden unilaterally decides to put his hand on 7 billion dollars belonging to the Afghan people. The US government said it will give half of this money to the American victims of 9/11, and this form of distribution will return to the US state itself at the end of the economic cycle, and the other half will indirectly benefit Afghans without going through the Taliban, which is impossible. In addition to this attitude of coercively distributing the money, the American government promotes brutal sanctions on the country and prevents it from developing its productive forces, further amplifying the chaotic situation. These attitudes generated international revolt and made numerous countries denounce the US government, calling for them to return the money and not hinder the country's development. The consequences, which amount to being genocidal, of these attitudes, were the expansion of the shortage of supplies in the country and even worse the quality of life of the Afghan people. Deborah Lyons, the UN representative in Afghanistan, said such attitudes could cause a structural problem that will span generations - in a country that already has half of its population acutely hungry, according to the United Nations (UN). Russia, China, Pakistan, other nations and many of the US congressmen themselves denounce this attitude of the Biden administration, but, as history shows us, the famine in other nations never moves the US and the West. There have been genocides of hunger in Yemen, committed by the disgusting alliance between Saudi Arabia, Westerners, and allies in the region, and in several countries in Africa for decades, committed by countries that are part of Western influence, which never seemed to cause concern to Washington and still turn a blind eye to the agents of chaos involved.

Therefore, Uncle Sam, as well as the modern mercantile and imperialist states of the XIV and XVII, also follows the main objective of the booklet for the domination of a country: the theft of its riches. “Civilize”, in the eugenicist interpretation of the term, or “promote Western values”, are just political speeches and they only serve to please the ego of American exceptionalism; what, in fact, American power seeks is to please the corporations that govern its flawed republic. Afghanistan was invaded allegedly because of a group of individuals, mostly from Saudi Arabia, who committed crimes in other countries; the country was occupied for two decades, left in the dust to occupy prominent positions in the ranking of poverty and hunger, being considered the poorest country in the world by the UN; after all that, the country was sacked and betrayed. The world changes, but empires do not.