How America Failed Afghanistan — And Itself
There Are No Good Ways to End an Empire. But There Are Even Worse Ones.
By tomorrow, probably, the beheadings will begin. Journalists, translators, aides, security forces. Women have already been “rounded up” and told they’re going to be forcibly “married” to Taliban members. Covid vaccines aren’t allowed to be distributed anymore.
That’s what Afghanistan looks like now, in the wake of America’s sudden withdrawal. Maybe you don’t want to face that truth, so let me make it even sharper. Mass violence. Sexual slavery. Brutality beyond belief. Catastrophe after catastrophe is arriving. Would you wish that on anyone?
I didn’t think so. So before you throw your hands up and say: “Of course we should have left,” think. Americans are in the fortunate position of being imperial subjects. They treat other countries and lives like disposable commodities. But those being treated that way are not so lucky. In this case, a fascist paramilitary is taking over an entire country. Should we care? Shouldn’t we?
How did it end up this way?
Here’s a tiny fact you might not know. Anyone with any real familiarity with the region could have told you how all this was going to go down — the Taliban would be in Kabul in days. Every single Desi…
