The Name Blame: Afghanistan’s Failure Goes Beyond Faulting One Individual

“Who is to blame for Afghanistan’s fall?” a meme on my Facebook post inquired this morning. Reading through the comments on this left-of-center page, I saw references to Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, Vice President Cheney, military contractors, and even Presidents Obama and Biden.

Though I worked as a congressional staffer on 9/11 and witnessed the subsequent votes authorizing the war in Afghanistan, I’m no expert. But as writer/philosopher and U.S. citizen, I have a few thoughts on the Afghan chaos. I’m also using lessons from AP Psychology, which I teach.

To begin, I notice that this meme echoes typical Western thought that traces the cause of problems to a specific individual. On the contrary, in the East, people look at the larger system or situation to determine causation. In this case, I empathize with this perspective. As such, I argue that the cause of Afghanistan’s points to the White supremacist/colonialist system.

Sadly, this system derives from our primitive, emotional brain or the limbic system. Research has shown that the amygdala, part of the limbic system that processes fear, increases activity when we see a person who looks different from what we know[i]. Scientists argue that this response comes from our evolutionary origins where we guarded our territorial resources from strangers. The limbic system propels us to react to immediate environmental threats with emotions (fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust). In ancient times, an impeding attack by a tiger, for example, would trigger such a response.

In such a crisis, whether now or our cave dwelling days, we have minutes to react, lest we die. Time does not allow us to fully use our cerebral cortex or thinking brain, which handles decision-making, conscious thought, problem-solving, and attention. With the limbic system, we react — often out of fear, anger, etc. — while with the cerebral cortex, we respond (consciously thinking, scrutinizing, and giving a situation focused attention).

While wars have detailed strategies, they derive from emotion-spurred aggression. From my understanding, military action rarely considers long-term consequences at the deeper, psycho-socioeconomic level. More specifically, how would military violence entice anger of the people attacked? How will they respond to trauma? How will casualties impact family and economic systems? What dangerous consequences will come from clashing cultures? Why have other military operations (i.e., the Soviet Union) failed? How will our own military members deal with the trauma of war and how will that seam into the American fabric? How will society cope with the loss of their fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers, and sisters?

“These factors constitute a war’s collateral damage,” Western societies assess. Ironically, we’re led to accept that the collateral damage represents a slice of a bigger picture, minimized for our consumption. In our society, war propogandists feed our emotional limbic system. An example would an announcement touting “the bad guy has been killed.” Demonized, this bad guy appeals to our fears. Once the military thwarts our fears, we’re satisfied. Later, when the “bad guy” or his followers resurface, we are shocked. However, if we joined together to piece the puzzle that caused the conflict, our logical cerebral cortex might transcend our challenge at a deeper level.

In the case of the vote to authorize military force against Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress reacted hastily, deriving from emotions Americans felt in the aftermath of 9/11. Osama bin Laden immediately stepped into the “bad guy” role, making us tremble.

In many ways, we can justify the reactions. More than 3,000 innocent people died in terrorist attacks we never expected on U.S. soil. I myself was walking the halls of the Capitol when Flight 93, headed our way, crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Of course, we were angry, sad, and scared. Should we have fought back? Absolutely. Should we have destabilized the terrorist cells sheltering Osama bin Laden? Yes, without a doubt.

But, looking at what happened this week in Afghanistan, perhaps America should have listened to the lone Member of Congress, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) who opposed authorizing war with Afghanistan.[ii] In her statement before the House floor on September 14, 2001, Rep. Lee emphasized that military action had multifarious consequences.

“This is a very complex and complicated matter,” she said. “However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, let’s step back for a moment. Let’s just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.”

In my interpretation, she said our emotions (“state of mourning)” should not guide our actions. Instead, we should take time to reflect before deciding the next steps, a function of our logic.

Congresswoman Lee’s words ring true 20 years later. Looking at the Taliban taking over Kabul and witnessing many Afghans jumping on a moving plane to escape, the phrase “spiraling out of control,” aptly describes the situation.

Coming from such an advanced society, it’s unfortunate that we acted before thinking.

One reason Western-led wars rarely consider deeper, long-term consequences is rooted White supremacy. This system says, “We stand above other countries, our government systems are superior, and we are the only ones who can save other places from themselves.”

A quote in a Washington Post article by military reporter Greg Jaffe describes this eloquently.[iii] In the article, Jaffe quotes war veteran Lt. Col. Jason Dempsey as saying, “‘We assumed the rest of the world saw us as we saw ourselves. And we believed that we could shape the world in our image using our guns and our money.’ Both assumptions ignored Afghan culture, politics, and history. Both, he said, were tragically wrong.”’

So, that begs the question, why did four administrations who had the resources, capital, and access to knowledge, ignore Afghan culture, politics, and history? Dempsey’s words themselves answer my query: we tried to shape the world in our image.

This dogma, that the world should emulate the West underlies colonialism’s foundation. After mitigating the terrorist threat against the United States, we lingered. We thought we could inundate Afghanistan with our ideals: destroy terrorist cells, save women from Taliban’s oppression, and establish a democratic form of government.

While we were indulging Afghanistan, America was falling apart. Perhaps an alien looking from afar would say the America was shaping itself into Afghanistan’s image instead of the other way around. So, I ask:

· In ideologies, how can one tell apart the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS different from Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and QAnon?

· How are oppressive Sharia laws targeting women distinct from U.S. abortion laws that force rape victims to give birth?

· How do the “Big Lie,” voter restriction laws or death threats against U.S. poll workers diverge[iv] from the Taliban’s government system?

· How is the Taliban overrunning Kabul any different from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, had it succeeded (and still lacks full accountability)?

My heart goes out to the military service members who gave their lives or dedicated their life’s work to building up a 21st century Afghanistan. I feel deep empathy for the Afghan allies who deserve a secular nation. All parties, unfortunately, constitute the collateral damage that the White supremacist colonialist system creates through pleasing the emotional rather than the logical brain.

In the Holy Bible’s Matthew 7:3 (NIV), it says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

No one person is to blame for Afghanistan’s fall. Rather, the onus should fall to an entire system we keep devouring. As we move forward, let’s take heed to principles that challenge us to think, reflect and act with our optimal intellectual assets.

[i] < https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201809/understanding-the-racist-brain>

[ii] <https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbaraleeagainstinvasion.htm>

[iii] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-hubris-afghanistan-humiliation/2021/08/14/47fb025a-fc67-11eb-9c0e-97e29906a970_story.html>

[iv] https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1027747378/death-threats-and-conspiracy-theories-why-2020-wont-end-for-election-officials