International Observation | The Pain of the Second Anniversary of US Withdrawal Still Remains in Afghanistan | Afghanistan | United States

Kabul, August 16 (Xinhua) -- The pain of the second anniversary of the US military withdrawal still lingers in Afghanistan

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zou Xuemian and Zhao Jiasong

In August 2021, the United States ended a 20-year long war in Afghanistan, and its hasty withdrawal led to chaos in the local situation, adding insult to injury to this war-torn country.

Now, it has been two years since the United States fell into the "Kabul moment". The US military has indiscriminately killed innocent people in Afghanistan for 20 years, causing huge disasters and lasting pain to the local people. The mess left by the US still poses numerous challenges to the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan.

massacre and slaughter the innocent at will

On August 16, 2021, at Kabul International Airport, a US C-17 transport plane took off disregarding the safety of Afghan civilians. Some people were crushed alive by the retracted landing gear in the wheel well, while others fell from high altitude and died. On the day before the complete withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan, a US drone bombed a family of ten in Kabul, including seven children... The tragic events two years ago shocked the world and haunted the hearts of the Afghan people like nightmares.

On August 29, 2021, the US military carried out a drone attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, resulting in the death of 10 civilians, including 7 children. The picture shows the scene of an attack on a residential area taken on the same day. Shen Jizhong

Former US drone operator Brandon Bryant has repeatedly told the media about his personal experience: during an attack mission in Afghanistan, he saw an Afghan child breaking into the target site in the final moments before missile launch from the drone lens. He reported to his superiors and received a response of "don't worry about him, that's just a dog.".

According to statistics, during the 20 year invasion of Afghanistan by the US military, 174000 Afghan people, including over 30000 civilians, were killed, and nearly one-third of the Afghan people became refugees. In addition, the US military has also extensively used cluster bombs in Afghanistan, causing serious disasters to the local population. According to data from the Cluster Munitions Alliance, in 2001 and 2002, the US military dropped over 1200 cluster bombs in Afghanistan, containing over 240000 sub bombs.

"When they were there, we saw Afghan people being killed every day, including children." Speaking of the crimes committed by the US military in Afghanistan, Afghan Zalmena said, "The United States keeps saying they want to protect human rights, but they kill innocent people. Their actions are a violation of human rights."

An irreparable mess

The United States launched the war in Afghanistan under the banner of "counter-terrorism", which destroyed the country and the future of several generations. In the end, it left the country with broken mountains and rivers and a miserable situation for its people. American veteran writer Elliot Ackerman once questioned in an interview with Time magazine: As outsiders, the US military can choose to leave, and what choices can Afghan people who are guarding their shattered homes have?

The US military announced on August 30, 2021 that it has completed its withdrawal mission from Afghanistan, officially ending nearly 20 years of military operations in Afghanistan. The picture is taken on August 31 of the same year at Afghanistan International Airport after the withdrawal of the US military. Shen Jizhong

When the United States invaded Afghanistan, it claimed to help rebuild Afghanistan and establish a "free society" for the Afghan people. In the end, after 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan, Afghanistan still has not established a decent economic system, and resources such as food and electricity cannot be self-sufficient. Even in the capital Kabul, people do not have urban public transportation systems, municipal water supply systems, and heating systems, and a large number of people live in self built adobe houses on the mountains.

"Before the Americans came, we didn't have electricity, and now we still don't have electricity. Before, the poor didn't have houses to live in, and now they still don't," Kabul resident Nasir Ahmed Amiri told reporters. "Americans need to come to Afghanistan to expand their hegemonic interests, and most Afghans have suffered from it.".

Over the past 20 years, the United States has not only made few achievements in the field of economic development in Afghanistan, but also laid the foundation for the country's security situation. During the Afghanistan War, the United States defined terrorist organizations according to its own needs and selectively counterterrorism to achieve its geopolitical goals, resulting in an increase in the number of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan from single digits to over 20. This not only deeply harms the Afghan people, but also endangers the security of neighboring countries. Professor Abuzar Hapalwa Zazai of Kabul University in Afghanistan said that the actions of the United States out of its own interests have left the Afghan people constantly shrouded in the shadow of terrorist attacks.

In addition, the proliferation of drugs is also plaguing Afghanistan, and the United States cannot shirk its responsibility. According to media reports, with the support of US intelligence personnel, Afghanistan's drug production has surged and has now become the world's largest opium supplier, accounting for about 80% of the global market. Its poppy cultivation area and opium production far exceed pre US invasion levels.

Forceful seizure

Although the US military has withdrawn, the US government continues to impose unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan, confiscating Afghan overseas assets, and obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid funds into Afghanistan. This not only worsens the lives of the Afghan people, but also further deadlocks the post-war reconstruction work in Afghanistan.

The picture shows Afghan residents living in caves in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, captured on February 8th this year. Shen Jizhong

On February 11, 2022, US President Biden signed an executive order requiring the Afghan Central Bank to evenly distribute approximately $7 billion in US assets, with half as a source of funds for compensating victims of the 9/11 attacks and the other half transferred to an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The hegemonic act of the United States openly plundering the property of the Afghan people has been widely condemned by the international community.

Afghan public opinion believes that the US government's aggressive behavior has led to a shortage of foreign exchange and rising prices in Afghanistan, making the lives of the Afghan people even worse.

Martin Schupp, Director of the Operations Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross, pointed out that US sanctions have hindered the international community from providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, posing challenges to the operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan.

Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Afghanistan Research Center at Lanzhou University, said that US sanctions not only deter foreign investors, but also turn Afghanistan's economic development plans for the past two years into mere talk, ultimately exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Two years ago, the US military fled Afghanistan in panic. Nowadays, although the war has ended, the trauma caused by the United States to Afghanistan is far from healed.