I saw a photograph of a group of Talibani fighters on their motorbikes. All the bikes had blankets on their seats and that set me thinking as to why. The most plausible explanation that I could come up with is that since they are on the move and determined to take over Kabul, lodging and boarding too have to be mobile and bare minimum. I can see them spreading their blankets on the ground anywhere and catching some sleep before getting on with their business of violent misanthropy.
The point of that little introduction is to illustrate the reason why the Taliban are able to do what they do in the face of the world's mightiest military machine is because they have stripped down their lives to a singular purpose of killing or beating back those they consider their enemy. That purpose is not diluted by drinking Coke and Pepsi and eating burgers and fries like many US soldiers had become so accustomed to. The Taliban have been so used to a severe and austere life where the only motivating factor is defeating the enemy at any cost no matter how long it takes.
Speaking of how long it takes, as the US has withdrawn from Afghanistan after nearly two decades the Taliban with their motorcycles draped with blankets and beat-up Toyota pickup trucks are yet again proving that in the end what wins is a terminal wish to both die as well not to lose and not hundreds of billions of dollars, state-of-the-art weaponry, night vision goggles and expensive communications infrastructure. According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the United States has spent $2.26 trillion on the Afghan invasion and occupation, which is a little over $130 billion a year. The Brown estimate says 47,245 Afghan civilians have been killed in the war as of mid-April this year. The US Department of Defense says 2,442 U.S. troops have been killed and 20,666 wounded in the war since 2001. The actual fighting, which involves everything including ammunition, fuel, vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks, food, the famous Humvees, airstrikes and so on have cost $815.7 billion.
The number dead Afghan troops is said to be 66,000 to 69,000. In contrast, 2,442 U.S. troops have been killed and 20,666 wounded.
I am being facetious here but for a fraction of $143 billion a year that America has spent since 2002, it could have just plied pliable Taliban leaders to do their bidding without investing so much blood and treasure.
It is extraordinary and even strangely suspicious how quickly the country's armed forces have folded up in the face of the Taliban onslaught, so much so that they are now on the verge of taking over the capital Kabul. President Joe Biden's decision to rapidly end the Afghan engagement is already being seen as a debacle in the league of Vietnam. It is also being seen as an action that very seriously undermines America's international credibility as an unassailable military ally perhaps much to the joy of China and Russia. It is astonishing that a rapid fall of Afghanistan was not factored in while deciding to withdraw to an accelerated schedule. The result is that the Biden administration is having to send back 3000 US troops to ensure a secure evacuation of the large US embassy staff.
In a galling indictment of how flawed the rapid withdrawal has been that Washington had to essentially plead with the Taliban via its chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad not to attack the embassy and its staff. After spending $2.26 trillion it has come to this--pleading with fighters on motorcycles draped with blankets. I engage in some literary exaggeration here but you get my point.
Much is being said about how Washington is abandoning Afghanistan at the wrong time. Actually, leaving Afghanistan at any time for America would be a wrong time. If President Biden has made the calculation that in the short-term there will be opprobrium for him but history might be more reasonable to his decision, then one cannot do much about it. If the logic in Washington is that America cannot be expected to be mired in forever wars not matter what happens to the countries it leaves, I suppose one has to respect that decision.
Of course, the biggest worry now is that the level of freedom and empowerment that Afghani women, girls and children have become accustomed to since 2001 and the dislodging of the Taliban will now be severely tested if not altogether dismantled. I had a strong and a heartfelt conversation with the well-known Afghan women and children's rights activist Mahbouba Seraj on my show Mayank Chhaya Reports.