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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
A war in Afghanistan that made the superpower, the United States, a joke all over the world. A war in Afghanistan has exposed the essence of the United States' foreign power and middle force. The Americans spent two full decades in Afghanistan and still did not completely eliminate the Afghan Taliban. Today, the Taliban have even become the masters of Afghanistan again.
It seems that in the war in Afghanistan, the United States has always played a very "stupid" role. The "stupid" entered Afghanistan, and the "stupid" were driven out of Afghanistan. But are Americans really that stupid? Or is the real purpose of the U.S. government really just about the war itself?
Perhaps, we were mistaken about the essence of the war in Afghanistan from the very beginning.
(Afghanistan War)
One, this is not a war, but a lie
On August 25, 2021, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristen Hrafursen said in an interview with Russia Today: "It is not surprising that US troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan. What is truly strange is that the United States has been able to deceive the world for twenty years!"
Heraverson stressed to this reporter that the war in Afghanistan is, in essence, a big lie! In fact, the US Government did not go to Afghanistan to fight at all, but more like it went to Afghanistan to "sell stolen goods." Afghanistan is a "black hole of spending", and no one really knows how much the U.S. government is spending in Afghanistan. But according to the available clues, this figure must be at least more than 2 trillion dollars!
In the course of the war, the United States received almost no real benefits, and only the military-industrial complex and individual contractors made a lot of money in Afghanistan! Heraphsen said that we should not be surprised by the chaotic retreat of the US troops, because it is inevitable. We should be surprised that in these two decades, not a single mainstream media has dared to expose the truth!
(Afghanistan War)
Subsequently, WikiLeaks exposed 91,000 related documents, all of which are "Afghanistan War Diaries", which are relevant internal materials of the US military and the CIA during the Afghan war. This exposure is considered to be the most serious leak in the history of the United States, and it is also a major public relations crisis for the US government.
Shortly after the documents were exposed, Chelsea Manning, the leaker of the documents, was arrested and prosecuted by the FBI. And the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is also wanted by the U.S. government and has been in the maelstrom of justice for a long time. It can be seen that this leak has indeed brought considerable losses to the US government.
In other words, judging from the reaction of the US government, we can basically determine one problem, that is, Hraversson's statement is probably basically true. The reason why the truth of the war in Afghanistan has not been exposed is actually largely because the "light of the war in Afghanistan" has long been overshadowed by another war led by the United States, that is, the war in Iraq.
(Afghanistan War)
After all, Afghanistan is more of a "corner of the world" in relative terms. Compared to the Middle East and Iraq, the center of the Arab world, not so many people pay attention to Afghanistan, and no one cares about Afghanistan. However, the more such a place is, the more suitable it is in fact for the US government to conduct a "black box operation".
This has also created the peculiarity of the war in Afghanistan, which has no strategic value for the United States. Even the US military itself is very "confused" on the battlefield in Afghanistan. If this war is only to "discipline" the Taliban, then after the Northern Alliance takes power, the United States can completely withdraw its troops.
But the United States did not, because Afghanistan is of little significance to the United States, but Afghanistan is of considerable significance to the American elite. The war in Afghanistan is not so much a "war of punishment" as it is a "stock market war".
(Military-industrial complex)
Second, whose pocket did the money go into?
The military-industrial complex is a phenomenon unique to the United States. In essence, the military-industrial complex is still a group similar to the nature of a "political and business alliance". By its very nature, the fundamental purpose of the military-industrial complex is still to make a profit. And the way in which the military-industrial complex makes money, naturally, is war.
Only if there is a war in the United States, the military-industrial complex will make money. If the world is peaceful, then the arms enterprises in the military-industrial complex will probably not be far from bankruptcy. However, the military-industrial complex is able to become a military-industrial complex because it also has enormous political influence.
In the United States today, there is a so-called "iron triangle system". These three corners are the military-industrial complex, Capitol Hill and the Pentagon. Specifically, this "iron triangle system" is the military-industrial complex providing large political donations to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. And the congressmen approve the Pentagon's military programs, as well as provide grants to the Pentagon. The Pentagon is instead placing orders for the military-industrial complex to get congressional appropriations flowing back into the pockets of the military-industrial complex.
(U.S. Equipment)
And under the "iron triangle system", there is also a "revolving door" system. This "revolving door" system can be understood as after the retirement of Pentagon officials and congressmen. The U.S. military-industrial complex will hire these retired congressmen or officials under the pretext of a "consultant" or whatever, so that they can continue to maintain their prosperity and wealth.
The war in Afghanistan is a concrete practice under the "iron triangle system". In other words, it is precisely because of the war in Afghanistan that the system is so strong today. And in this long war in Afghanistan, the "iron triangle" can be said to be the ultimate winner, or the American elite, the real winner.
There are opinions that the "only winner" of the war in Afghanistan is the military-industrial complex. According to Brown University statistics, the United States has continuously invested $2.26 trillion in Afghanistan since 2001, and of that $2.26 trillion, only $1 trillion is the Department of Defense's overseas emergency budget.
(Pentagon)
The rest of the amount is divided into different items. For example, the special fund for Afghanistan's reconstruction has mainly gone into the pockets of construction contractors in the United States. Some special funds to help Afghanistan build a police system, as well as fight drugs and provide food, have also gone into the pockets of corresponding American companies.
The war in Afghanistan is not so much a feast for the military-industrial complex as a "carnival of American business." As an example, the alliance of pharmaceutical companies also has a huge influence in Congress, and the war will inevitably create a demand for drugs, and the alliance of pharmaceutical companies also has an interest in the war in Afghanistan.
In this case, the alliance of pharmaceutical companies and the military-industrial complex are a "community of interests" on the Afghan issue. And they will inevitably use their influence on Capitol Hill at the same time as ordering their lobby groups to lobby the White House. The White House may be able to deal with the military-industrial complex or the pharmaceutical alliance alone, but when these companies come together, the White House can't do anything.
(USA)
Driven by profits, U.S. companies will do their best to prolong the war in Afghanistan as long as possible. The long war of law and order is actually more of an appetite for American companies. The Pakistan Observer said: "Whether the United States has a war in the East or not is actually driven by those with vested interests who may benefit a lot from the war. ”
The Institute for Security Policy Reform, an independent think tank in the United States, also said: "In the war in Afghanistan, the entities that have seized the most benefits are none other than the five major U.S. military-industrial complexes, Loma Corporation, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman." ”
Therefore, for successive US presidents, the war in Afghanistan was a war of "last resort". No politician can be elected president of the United States on his own without receiving financial assistance from corporations. With one exception, Trump. As a result, Trump is also the only U.S. president in two decades who has dared to open the withdrawal process from Afghanistan.
(Trump)
Before Trump, however, every president of the United States needed to "keep the lie as good as possible."
3. You have to deceive the people
The war in Afghanistan was the longest war in the history of the United States. Neither World War I, World War II, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, or even the Vietnam War or the Korean War can compare to the long war in Afghanistan. This war lasted for twenty years.
However, it is completely impossible for the American people to accept a war that will last so long. The Vietnam War has destroyed the patience of the Americans, all wars that last more than a year. In the eyes of the American people, it was the "second Vietnam War." Therefore, for the United States, the most important problem is to package the war in Afghanistan as a "quick war".
(Gulf War)
Convince the American people that the war in Afghanistan will be "resolved quickly." In the previous Gulf War, the US military did show the world what is called a "blitzkrieg in the new era." Therefore, the American people at that time actually believed in the government's rhetoric very much. Because in the eyes of the people, this war in Afghanistan is nothing more than a "copy of the Gulf War".
However, both the top level of the US government and the top level of the US military know very well one thing in their hearts, that is, there is no possibility of a "quick victory" in this war. Even leaving aside the issue of corporate alliances, the terrain of Afghanistan, as well as the peculiarities of this country, determine that it is impossible for the US military to achieve victory in a year.
Therefore, the U.S. government needs to face the second problem at this time, that is, how to make the American people accept the reality that the United States will not withdraw its troops after the "end of the war". At this time, the Americans took out their usual "ideological weapon" and packaged the long security war in Afghanistan as "shaping the democratic system of Afghanistan."
(Afghanistan War)
The top of the US administration, pretending that they are rebuilding Afghanistan, pretending that they have won the entire war, pretending that the Taliban have been completely eliminated. However, in fact, the U.S. military is getting bogged down in war step by step in Afghanistan. But the purpose of the American elite has indeed been achieved, and that is to make money.
The Washington Post has used judicial means to expose a number of documents related to the war in Afghanistan. The documents show that high-ranking people in the United States called the war in Afghanistan "a complete disaster." It can be said that this view is completely different from the optimistic news propagated by the US government.
U.S. Army General Dan admitted in the document that the U.S. military entered the Afghan battlefield unprepared. At the beginning of the invasion, the U.S. military had no plan of action at all, and this cost a lot. David Davy, the British general of the NATO forces, also said: "In fact, there is no long-term strategy for the coalition forces. ”
(Afghanistan War)
Could it be that the Americans are unable to formulate a perfect action plan because their level is too inferior? It is simply impossible, and the US military's performance in the Gulf War has proved its first-class strategic and tactical capabilities. The Gulf War is only 10 years away from the Afghan War, and even if the level of the US military declines, it cannot be so fast.
What's more, many of the US generals who participated in the Afghan War at that time had themselves commanded the Gulf War. Which of the Taliban is stronger than Saddam's million-strong army? However, NATO's coalition forces have not formulated any serious plan of action at all, and this can only show one problem, that is, the coalition forces did not intend to fight this war properly.
In the face of domestic skepticism, the U.S. government has chosen to cover up the past with one lie after another. But in the face of the mess on the battlefield in Afghanistan, the US government can only increase troops again and again, and invest money again and again. However, the U.S. military command in Kabul did not want the war to end so quickly.
(Afghanistan War)
So much so that even though the Afghan U.S. military has the strength to crush the Taliban, their overall performance in the war is negative. If it weren't for deceiving the American people, the war would have to be "at least looking won." Then the US troops in Afghanistan, most likely, do not even want to enter Kabul. After all, it is enough to prolong the war and confront the Taliban for a long time.
However, for the United States as a country, taxpayers' money is like snowflakes filling the bottomless pit of the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps, the details of the war in Afghanistan will become an eternal secret. Because there will not be any vested interests who are willing to take the initiative to tell their secrets.
(U.S. military)
Resources
Global Times.WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief: Western media have concealed the truth about the Afghan war for the United States and maintained "lies" for 20 years. [OL].2021.08.27.
Afghanistan War Documents: "The truth is so precious that it must be guarded with lies". [OL].2022.03.22.
A war-exporting country, a war exporter, and a war and lie that the United States has slapped itself in the face. [OL].2023.03.04.
Zheng Ruolin.Monster "military-industrial complex" is about to move[J].Party Member Digest, 2022(7):2.