U.S. general: Afghan forces could face ‘bad possible outcomes’
A May 2, 2021, Washington datelined AP report said:
Afghan government forces face an uncertain future and, in a worst-case scenario, some “bad possible outcomes” against Taliban insurgents as the withdrawal of American and coalition troops accelerates in the coming weeks, the top U.S. military officer said Sunday.
A car bomb attack in Pakistan, possibly aimed at a Chinese diplomat, has demonstrated just how important peace and stability in the region is to Beijing and its $65 billion Belt and Road Initiative. On April 21 Wednesday evening a deadly blast struck a Pakistan hotel stemming from a car bomb, claiming four lives.
United States military outposts in Afghanistan have come under some fire in recent days in what was an expected response to American forces remaining in the country beyond the May 1 deadline agreed by former President Donald Trump and the Taliban.
President Biden’s announcement that U.S. troops would withdraw by September 11 has many Afghans and observers warning of a quick collapse of the Afghan state and a new phase in the country’s civil war. Without minimizing the challenges ahead, the United States should avoid any self-fulfilling prophecy of imminent collapse by insisting that the only future for Afghanistan is one that advances the gains of the past 20 years. As troops begin to depart, it is an opportune time to examine three forms of leverage the United States has to promote a political settlement.
If the early months of the Biden administration are any indication, the U.S.-China rivalry shows no signs of dimming anytime soon. Initial meetings between top Biden administration and Chinese officials in March were heated and appear to have done little to reduce tensions over many divisive issues. There is growing bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for “hardline” policies against Beijing. Meanwhile, China is increasingly active worldwide, including in Africa, where its expanding presence is concerning to the United States.
The U.S. has all the watches, but we have all the time.” This quote, sometimes attributed to a captured Taliban fighter, is among the handful of now-famous anecdotes produced by the Afghan War. “The U.S. hasn’t fought a 20-year war in Afghanistan. It has fought 20 one-year wars in Afghanistan,” is another likely to make its way to the annals of history.
Similarly, for at least the past 10 years it seems there have been at least ten different debates on the U.S. role in Afghanistan: Should we stay? Should we go? Should we switch strategies?
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his decision to fully withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept.11. After 20 years and two generations of American service members fighting there, America’s longest war will come to an end. What will the legacy of that war be for the U.S. military? And will it have a lasting impact on American society?
On April 28, 2021, the religious official of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) published a post on his Telegram channel commenting on the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan.[1]
Abu Mariyah Al-Qahtani began his post by congratulating the Taliban on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and highlighting the group’s long journey toward this outcome, which included fighting with rival groups.
Despite the negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), we are confronted by the increasing dangers of great power war, even nuclear war.
Instead of making necessary investments to ensure public health, reverse climate change and ensure the security of their peoples, trillions of dollars are being wasted to construct new nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, including new hypersonic delivery systems.
As strategic competition between the United States and China intensifies, preventing a destabilizing arms race and lowering the risk of military, especially nuclear, confrontation is critical. The essays in this volume—based on a series of workshops convened by USIP’s Asia Center in late 2020—highlight both the striking differences and the commonalities between U.S. and Chinese assessments of the root causes of instability and the drivers of conflict in the nuclear, conventional missile and missile defense, space, cyberspace and artificial intelligence realms.