To the United States, the Afghan People Have Always Been Nothing More Than Collateral Damage.
On the devastating fall of the Afghan government, and the role of American imperialism.
With virtually no effort whatsoever, the Afghan government has officially fallen to the Taliban after the United States’ decision to have all troops out of the country by September 11th, 2021.
Personally, I — like I’m sure many others are— am still struggling to process this.
I am 26 years old. The war with Afghanistan has been going on for nearly as long as I can remember. For nearly my entire life the United States has maintained a military presence in their country and the entire region, arguing that our role there was critical for training of their military in defense against forces like the Taliban. For twenty years, the people of Afghanistan have dealt with our military occupation, being told that it was for their own good and security that we train their forces.
Twenty years later, here we are. How did all that work out?
All of those hundreds of thousands of lives lost, trillions of dollars spent, decades of conflict, and for what?
What, exactly, do we have to show for any of it, other than more despair…
