US has no intention of a global military retreat despite Biden’s promise
The military-industrial complex that feeds the US economy will lead to more remote warfare as a myriad of risks diminish worldwide security
Paul Rogers
7 September 2021, 10.19am
The US’s disastrously chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has ended. Whether Taliban rule itself will descend into chaos as financial and other crises unfold is far from clear, but the regime has close friends in the region, especially within Pakistan’s military. Neighbouring China sees many opportunities for gain. Both these countries depend on a perceived level of Taliban-run stability, but even more distant states are already elbowing their way in.
Within a day of the final US plane taking off, the Qatari military landed with a team of specialists tasked with setting up the airport as a commercial operation. The Russian, Chinese and Pakistani embassies in Kabul have remained operational throughout the changeover, while the UK and US already have embassies in Doha, making it easy to meet the Taliban at their existing diplomatic office there. Even the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, flew to Qatar in haste to help things along, and possibly salvage his career.
Overshadowing all of this on the world stage is the weakened status of the US and President Joe Biden’s position. There is little doubt that his personal standing has been damaged, and we may now see Kamala Harris coming to the fore. Before the recent withdrawal chaos, the twenty-year war had become deeply unpopular, with the majority of Americans only too keen to see the troops return home. A Pew poll conducted in the last days of August showed that even as the tragedy in Kabul unfolded, support for the withdrawal among US adults remained at 54% to 42%.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/us-has-no-intention-of-a-global-military-retreat-despite-bidens-promise/
