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A. Gruszczak - The defeat of the West and the future of "Chaosistan"

A. Gruszczak - The defeat of the West and the future of "Chaosistan"

The lament over the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan is heard all over the West and echoes elsewhere in the world. Indeed, this historic event terrifies the governments and societies of Western powers and the countries of the South Asian region. The memory of the previous Taliban rule (1996-2001), cultivated to justify the NATO intervention and the West's twenty years of tutelage over the Afghan government, abounds in examples of barbarism, cruelty and human rights violations. It brings a direct association with the activities of the Islamic State and other extremist Islamic armed groups. Dramatic scenes of the escape of representatives of Western countries and their closest associates, a besieged airport in Kabul and reports from areas recently occupied by the Taliban have completed the picture of the defeat suffered by the Western coalition in Afghanistan. The future of "Chaosistan" - to use Gen. McChrystall's phrasing - is expressed in the famous saying attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar: "Americans have the watches. We have the time.”

Artur Gruszczak

KBN Commentary no. 9 (81) / 2021
17 August 2021

The lament over the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan is heard all over the West and echoes elsewhere in the world. Indeed, this historic event terrifies the governments and societies of Western powers and the countries of the South Asian region. The memory of the previous Taliban rule (1996-2001), cultivated to justify the NATO intervention and the West's twenty years of tutelage over the Afghan government, abounds in examples of barbarism, cruelty and human rights violations. It brings a direct association with the activities of the Islamic State and other extremist Islamic armed groups. Dramatic scenes of the escape of representatives of Western countries and their closest associates, a besieged airport in Kabul and reports from areas recently occupied by the Taliban have completed the picture of the defeat suffered by the Western coalition in Afghanistan. The future of "Chaosistan" - to use Gen. McChrystall's phrasing - is expressed in the famous saying attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar: "Americans have the watches. We have the time.”

In the photo: An American helicopter Blackhawk transports evacuated U.S. officials to the Kabul airport.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force (public domain).

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A. Gruszczak - Klęska Zachodu i przyszłość „Chaosistanu”