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Abstract

p id="2f8d">The reality is that the US was forced to invade Afghanistan. Three elements are responsible: First, the US weapon corporates, which reaped trillions from Iraq and Afghanistan wars after 9/11. Second, the media and the domestic political pressure shaped the US policy then and did not let the Bush administration think wisely. Third, the US global power was at risk as the 9/11 attacks were a huge insult and disaster for Pentagon. The fall of the USSR had already made the US hawks believe that their might was right. So, 9/11 was the worst thing the US people ever had in their lives throughout the 20th century. They had killed hundreds of thousands of people but outside of the American borders. So, they had no idea of a plane or bomb falling over their civilians.Who benefitted from the US invasion of Afghanistan?Neither the US nor European nations benefited from the invasion of Afghanistan. Yes, as I already mentioned, weapon corporates and contractors reaped trillions from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. A massive industry of surveillance and security flourished. People were made to believe that safety comes first before liberty and anything else.However, the only country which benefited from the US invasion of Afghanistan was India.Afghanistan has territorial disputes with Pakistan, and India has always supported Afghanistan in these disputes. When the USSR entered Afghanistan, it pleased Indians who enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Russians based on communist ideology and mutual trade. However, India fell into trouble when the US and its allies defeated the USSR. Soon, the Taliban emerged on the scene, and India was further disappointed. They blamed Pakistan for everything that happened in Afghanistan. They knew that the blame game would help because the US had imposed Pressler sanctions on Pakistan.The Taliban indeed received support from Pakistan, but their emergence was totally abrupt. Not all warlords were under Pakistan’s influence. Hekmatyar, believed to be a Pakistan’s ally, was also a stubborn warlord who refused to cooperate when former intelligence chief (retired) General Hamid Gul tried to mediate between him and other warlords.So, there was no government in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, and civil war, robbery, rapes of girls and boys under the protection of the warlords were frequent. In a couple of such incidents, madrassa students (Taliban) helped some families in trouble. Such incidents encouraged a local religious teacher (and former mujahid), Mullah Mohammed Omar, to form a group of students militia (50 in the beginning) for helping the people around. The group received popularity and support. More and more madrassas and local peasants joined the movement, and more areas came under their influence. Their popularity reached Pakistan, and madrassa students in bulks joined them as the border almost did not exist. Finally, Pakistan located a potential ally that could cure its headache. Iran and its partners (including Russia and India) supported the opponents, who formed the Northern Alliance in 1996 to counter the Taliban’s progress. The rest is an oft-narrated story.— — — — —After the Taliban were overthrown, India got in

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to the game again. It made substantial investments in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military believed the Indians had come to damage them from the northwestern border. They also blamed that the Pakistani Taliban movement (TTP), which carried severe attacks inside Pakistan, enjoyed the support of the Indian secret agency. A small calculation help to understand their claim.India has donated and invested more than $3 billion in welfare and infrastructural projects. There are also a few thousand (not now) Indians working in these projects. India has established four (4) consulates (Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif) and one Indian Embassy in Kabul to supervise these projects. The Pakistani intelligence believes there are many other secret units. Indeed, establishing several consulates and one embassy in the country with 38 million people (and with no permanent Indian citizens) worries Pakistan.In contrast, China, whose investments in Pakistan will soon surpass the US spendings in Afghanistan, has two consulates (Lahore and Karachi) besides an embassy. It is essential to mention that many Pakistani students (29,000 in 2019) study in China. Many Pakistani and Chinese business groups meet frequently. There are a large number of Chinese working in multiple projects in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan’s population is 5.6 times larger than Afghanistan’s. That is why the Pakistani establishment suspects that so many Indian offices in small Afghanistan have jobs other than welfare and development.Pakistan complained to the US in different ways for engaging India in Afghanistan, whereas the US had designated Pakistan as the “Major non-Nato ally” in 2004. India was so excited about the Afghanistan adventure that it backed out of the 2775 km gas pipeline project (through Pakistan), which it signed with Iran in 1999. Citing pricing and security issues, India withdrew after the US signed a civilian nuclear deal in 2008.Later, when Iran succeeded in the nuclear deal with the P5+1 and the EU and sanctions were relaxed, India expedited work on the Chabahar Port. Indian news anchor Shishir Gupta wrote in Hindustan Times (25 May 2016): “The Chabahar Port will be a game-changer for India because it will provide connectivity to Afghanistan, Iran, and Eurasia, strategically outflanking an intransigent Islamabad. It is also a counter to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).” In the meantime, Pakistani authorities claimed to have arrested an Indian navy officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, in Balochistan, on the charges of terrorism and spying for the Indian secret agency that India denies to date.Even if India intended to trade with Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian states through Pakistan, Pakistan would only join with “minimal India” in Afghanistan. But it was no more a situation after the US invasion. Presence in both Iran and Afghanistan is strategically significant for India. That is why an Indian delegation recently met with the Taliban in Qatar.Many people are interpreting the consequences of the US withdrawal. If someone wants to find who has been defeated by the US withdrawal and the Taliban’s victory, they should watch and listen to the Indian news anchors and Indian leaders these days.</article></body>

Why did the US invade Afghanistan?

Who benefited from the US invasion of Afghanistan?

I do not have a good answer. Many on social media must have it. Some journalists and political scientists can answer this question very well.

Unfortunately, we live in the age of fake news and conspiracies where truth is a truth, but not a truth, and lie is a lie, but not a lie. For Pakistanis, the favorite recent truth is that President Ashraf Ghani fled the country (Afghanistan) with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and left some cash behind as it did not all fit in the helicopter. I asked the narrator, “Why did Ashraf Ghani fit four cars in the helicopter and leave cash? He could do vice versa.” He said, “No, he took four cars (full of cash) and one helicopter also.” I asked, “So, he flew with four cars and one helicopter!” He retorted, “No, he flew in the helicopter, and the four cars ran on the road.” I asked, “But he knew the Taliban were attacking every day. Then, why did he not transfer money some weeks or months earlier?” The narrator’s answer put me in real trouble as he growled, “You should ask Ashraf Ghani as you sound his supporter.” I added a little more: “How did you come to know all these facts?” He said, “Putin has informed Pakistan.” Full stop.

So, we were wondering why the US invaded Afghanistan. Let’s continue.

1. The US came to counter China. I don’t know, but it is a ridiculous hypothesis. In twenty years, what harms has the US brought to China from the Afghan border? The 2007 crisis and Trump’s trade restrictions did much more damage to China than anything else.

2. The US came to snatch Pakistani nuclear arsenals. It is funnier. They already have their own. What would they do with more? Then, one wonders why they should come so close to attack the nuclear plants? Could they not attack the plants from their aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean? If they arrived there, what did they wait for twenty years? Did they spend twenty years locating the targets? Why did they not pick nuclear arsenals when they were inside Pakistan to give a ride to Bin Laden?

3. The US came to check Iran. Oh, come on. Arabs are enough for them. Then, a few restrictions from Trump have deteriorated their plight. Why should they spend 100 billion dollars in Afghanistan to damage Iran?

4. The US came for minerals and oil. Yes, they have filled their swimming pools with oil from Afghanistan. Biden drinks oil to survive.

5. Israeli zionists dragged the US into Afghanistan. Oh really! But why? Are they so weak to handle Iran? They have reportedly killed many Arab scientists long ago, and they have done it in Iran again. They can even kill the Supreme Iranian Leader if they ever try. But they know his presence and “supremacy” support Isreal’s interests. A democratic Iran would be more dangerous.

The reality is that the US was forced to invade Afghanistan. Three elements are responsible: First, the US weapon corporates, which reaped trillions from Iraq and Afghanistan wars after 9/11. Second, the media and the domestic political pressure shaped the US policy then and did not let the Bush administration think wisely. Third, the US global power was at risk as the 9/11 attacks were a huge insult and disaster for Pentagon. The fall of the USSR had already made the US hawks believe that their might was right. So, 9/11 was the worst thing the US people ever had in their lives throughout the 20th century. They had killed hundreds of thousands of people but outside of the American borders. So, they had no idea of a plane or bomb falling over their civilians.

Who benefitted from the US invasion of Afghanistan?

Neither the US nor European nations benefited from the invasion of Afghanistan. Yes, as I already mentioned, weapon corporates and contractors reaped trillions from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. A massive industry of surveillance and security flourished. People were made to believe that safety comes first before liberty and anything else.

However, the only country which benefited from the US invasion of Afghanistan was India.

Afghanistan has territorial disputes with Pakistan, and India has always supported Afghanistan in these disputes. When the USSR entered Afghanistan, it pleased Indians who enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Russians based on communist ideology and mutual trade. However, India fell into trouble when the US and its allies defeated the USSR. Soon, the Taliban emerged on the scene, and India was further disappointed. They blamed Pakistan for everything that happened in Afghanistan. They knew that the blame game would help because the US had imposed Pressler sanctions on Pakistan.

The Taliban indeed received support from Pakistan, but their emergence was totally abrupt. Not all warlords were under Pakistan’s influence. Hekmatyar, believed to be a Pakistan’s ally, was also a stubborn warlord who refused to cooperate when former intelligence chief (retired) General Hamid Gul tried to mediate between him and other warlords.

So, there was no government in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, and civil war, robbery, rapes of girls and boys under the protection of the warlords were frequent. In a couple of such incidents, madrassa students (Taliban) helped some families in trouble. Such incidents encouraged a local religious teacher (and former mujahid), Mullah Mohammed Omar, to form a group of students militia (50 in the beginning) for helping the people around. The group received popularity and support. More and more madrassas and local peasants joined the movement, and more areas came under their influence. Their popularity reached Pakistan, and madrassa students in bulks joined them as the border almost did not exist. Finally, Pakistan located a potential ally that could cure its headache. Iran and its partners (including Russia and India) supported the opponents, who formed the Northern Alliance in 1996 to counter the Taliban’s progress. The rest is an oft-narrated story.

— — — — —

After the Taliban were overthrown, India got into the game again. It made substantial investments in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military believed the Indians had come to damage them from the northwestern border. They also blamed that the Pakistani Taliban movement (TTP), which carried severe attacks inside Pakistan, enjoyed the support of the Indian secret agency. A small calculation help to understand their claim.

India has donated and invested more than $3 billion in welfare and infrastructural projects. There are also a few thousand (not now) Indians working in these projects. India has established four (4) consulates (Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif) and one Indian Embassy in Kabul to supervise these projects. The Pakistani intelligence believes there are many other secret units. Indeed, establishing several consulates and one embassy in the country with 38 million people (and with no permanent Indian citizens) worries Pakistan.

In contrast, China, whose investments in Pakistan will soon surpass the US spendings in Afghanistan, has two consulates (Lahore and Karachi) besides an embassy. It is essential to mention that many Pakistani students (29,000 in 2019) study in China. Many Pakistani and Chinese business groups meet frequently. There are a large number of Chinese working in multiple projects in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan’s population is 5.6 times larger than Afghanistan’s. That is why the Pakistani establishment suspects that so many Indian offices in small Afghanistan have jobs other than welfare and development.

Pakistan complained to the US in different ways for engaging India in Afghanistan, whereas the US had designated Pakistan as the “Major non-Nato ally” in 2004. India was so excited about the Afghanistan adventure that it backed out of the 2775 km gas pipeline project (through Pakistan), which it signed with Iran in 1999. Citing pricing and security issues, India withdrew after the US signed a civilian nuclear deal in 2008.

Later, when Iran succeeded in the nuclear deal with the P5+1 and the EU and sanctions were relaxed, India expedited work on the Chabahar Port. Indian news anchor Shishir Gupta wrote in Hindustan Times (25 May 2016): “The Chabahar Port will be a game-changer for India because it will provide connectivity to Afghanistan, Iran, and Eurasia, strategically outflanking an intransigent Islamabad. It is also a counter to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).” In the meantime, Pakistani authorities claimed to have arrested an Indian navy officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, in Balochistan, on the charges of terrorism and spying for the Indian secret agency that India denies to date.

Even if India intended to trade with Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian states through Pakistan, Pakistan would only join with “minimal India” in Afghanistan. But it was no more a situation after the US invasion. Presence in both Iran and Afghanistan is strategically significant for India. That is why an Indian delegation recently met with the Taliban in Qatar.

Many people are interpreting the consequences of the US withdrawal. If someone wants to find who has been defeated by the US withdrawal and the Taliban’s victory, they should watch and listen to the Indian news anchors and Indian leaders these days.