The Great War is over and mere final formalities are pending. But two decades later it is not clear who won in Afghanistan. Is it that the US won the battles and lost the war? If so, was it due to the fact that the US failed to appreciate the local traditions and the influence of Islam?

After the 9/11 terrorist attack, the US was very efficient in its reply, with its superior military and technological power. Within two months flat, it toppled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan that had given refuge to the terror attack mastermind Osama bin Laden. In due course, he was killed and his Al Qaeda terror network was also largely liquidated. But these accomplishments are overshadowed by the final picture: the Taliban are almost victorious and as powerful as ever. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56747158] The country, as ravaged by violence today as it was twenty years ago, is facing the threat of a civil war. The scene does not resemble the victory the US might have envisioned.

What could have gone wrong? The military firepower of the US was of no help when it came to stabilizing the political situation in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban. What was needed was an appreciation of Afghan history, politics, and culture, and the Americans were slow learners in that area. It did not realize that its intervention as a foreign occupying force would be counterproductive, working in the Taliban’s favor. Add to that the Islam factor and the US was anyway waging a lost war.

In his recent book, ‘The American War in Afghanistan, A History,’ Carter Malkasian, a former adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argues that the US failed to defeat the Taliban because “they fought for Islam and resistance to occupation, values enshrined in Afghan identity.” [https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-19-755077-9] “The very presence of Americans in Afghanistan trod on what it meant to be Afghan. It prodded men and women to defend their honor, their religion, and their home. It dared young men to fight. It animated the Taliban. It sapped the will of Afghan soldiers and police.” [https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-us-withdrawal-biden-military-analysis-e6aea337670314041ce5a8837799bc73]

Also see:

https://www.rand.org/blog/2021/04/to-lose-a-war.html

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2020-02-10/how-good-war-went-bad

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/the-war-in-afghanistan-promises-to-win-but-no-vision-for-victory/2021/04/14/89acb8d6-9c6f-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html