Britain Asks: Has America Turned Its Back?
4 Min Read
In Britain, there are doubts about the viability of the more than 20-year-long war, as well as concerns about the West's image as the Taliban regains control in Afghanistan.
-
US Occupation forces return from Afghanistan, New York, on Dec. 10, 2020 (GETTY IMAGES)
The shame of the Taliban's sudden takeover of Afghanistan after a 20-year US occupation that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, has raised a question for America's most devoted European ally: Is America truly back, as President Joe Biden promised?
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace described the 2020 Doha accord inked by US President Donald Trump's administration as a "rotten deal". Wallace added that Biden's decision to leave Afghanistan was a mistake allowing the Taliban to reclaim power.
Following the upheaval of Trump's presidency, Biden has repeatedly stated that "America is back." Some British diplomats are calling into question not only that assessment but also the implications for long-term national security.
"Is America back or has it turned its back?" one British official asked, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It looks very much as if the Americans have gone home in a rather Trumpian manner- rushed, chaotic, and humiliating."
Western security sources are concerned that al Qaeda, whose founder Osama bin Laden was housed by the Taliban prior to 9/11, could reestablish itself in Afghanistan within months. According to them, such a scenario would endanger both the United Kingdom and the rest of the Western world.
A Humiliating Moment for the West
Top British diplomats equated the West's humiliation to the 1975 fall of Saigon, which ended the Vietnam War, or the 1956 Suez Crisis, a strategic blunder that confirmed Britain's loss of imperial power.
Photographs of helicopter plucking diplomats from the US embassy in Kabul were compared to those from 1975, which show a helicopter evacuating diplomats from the roof of the US embassy in Saigon.
Saigon moment again! Shocking images of desperate Afghan people chasing and scaling US military aircraft to flee show how ruthless the US is when it turns its back on its allies, leaving people they claimed to support feel betrayed. #Kabul #Afghanistan Congratulations India pic.twitter.com/s44JKEl3tO
— MinGraph (@Mingraph01) August 17, 2021
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly argued that a continued US military presence in Afghanistan would not have made a significant difference unless the Afghan military was capable of holding its own country.
According to British diplomats, “the Afghan debacle will undermine the West's standing in the world, rally jihadists everywhere, and strengthen Russia and China's arguments that the US and its allies lack both mettle and staying power”.
On his account, Britain's most senior civil servant and national security adviser under former Prime Minister Theresa May said that "we must be clear about this: this is a humiliating moment for the West."
Meanwhile, some British veterans expressed doubts about their own sacrifice. Others expressed feelings of betrayal. Some stressed that their fallen comrades died in vain.
"Was it worth it? Probably not. Did I lose my legs for nothing, looks like it. Did my mates die in vain? Yep," said Jack Cummings, a former British soldier who lost both legs on Aug. 14, 2010, while searching for improvised explosive devices (IED) in Afghanistan.
"Many emotions going through my head - anger, betrayal, sadness, to name a few," added Cummings.
Since 2001, the United Kingdom has lost 457 armed forces personnel in Afghanistan, accounting for 13% of the international military coalition's 3,500 fatalities.
According to Brown University's Cost of War Project, 241,000 people have died as a direct result of the war. They estimate that the Afghan war has cost the US $2.26 trillion.
The Biggest Foreign Policy Disaster
During the 1839-1842 Anglo-Afghan war, the British empire was humiliated in Afghanistan, but following the Sept. 11 al Qaeda attacks, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair joined US President George W. Bush in invading Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban.
"The fall of Kabul is the biggest foreign policy disaster since Suez," said Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the British parliament's foreign affairs committee.
"It revealed the nature of U.S. power and our inability to hold a separate line," said Tugendhat, who served as a British soldier in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
On her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out on Monday about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover.
"This is a particularly sour development. Bitter, dramatic, and frightening," the chancellor stated.
"It's a terrible development for millions of Afghans who want a more liberal society," she said.
