What the ‘Willful Blindness’ report misses about Afghanistan’s tragedy

As Washington argues concerning the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal — pointing fingers throughout the aisle and debating whether or not in charge President Biden or former President Trump — the center of the disaster is slipping from sight.

Was it Biden’s failure? Trump’s? Or ought to we name it what it actually was: An American-led NATO catastrophe, the consequence of 20 years of damaged guarantees and muddled insurance policies?

The recent House Foreign Relations Committee report, titled “Willful Blindness,” shines gentle on a few of the errors, however a lot of what issues stays in the dead of night. That is the place the report fails, and the place I search to disclose what it has left unsaid.

Afghanistan had been a ticking time bomb lengthy earlier than the U.S. troops started their exit. After the scandal of Normal Petraeus, the nation was destined for turmoil — there was by no means going to be an ideal exit. Regardless of the way it performed out, the Afghan individuals, the veterans who bled on the battlefields and people invested in rebuilding a fractured nation had been by no means going to be happy. The arduous reality is, irrespective of the way it was spun, Afghanistan was misplaced properly earlier than the planes left the runway at Bagram Airfield.

The report describes chaos, failed planning and bureaucratic paralysis that gripped Washington through the first two weeks of August 2021. This dysfunction is correct, however the narrative is incomplete.

Afghanistan — a land the place choices should be swift, not dragged out for months — was dominated by Washington’s gradual equipment for 20 years. A system like that was doomed to fail in a spot the place hesitation means defeat.

However maybe the obvious omission from the report is its dismissal of the Afghan authorities itself. There are numerous references to the Afghan Safety Forces, however the Afghan authorities was extra than simply its army wing. America’s disregard for Afghanistan’s management — corrupt and inept as it might have been — helped destroy its legitimacy. A authorities dismissed is a authorities diminished, and ultimately, it vanished underneath the burden of Washington’s indifference.

As America walked away, it handed extra than simply energy to the Taliban — it left behind billions of {dollars} in American army tools. The Pentagon estimated that $7.1 billion price of protection articles had been deserted. This not solely empowered an extremist group but in addition betrayed tens of millions of Afghans — those that misplaced members of the family within the battle and people who, for 20 years, naively believed in America’s empty guarantees.

From Aug. 6 to Aug. 15, 19 provinces fell to the Taliban. There have been moments — transient as they had been — when the U.S. might have reevaluated its disastrous withdrawal technique. The collapse didn’t start on Aug. 15 with the autumn of Kabul. It started within the provinces that resisted, locations like Herat, Panjshir and Helmand, the place battles had been nonetheless ongoing. These pockets of resistance gave Washington time, which it wasted.

By the point Kabul was crumbling, Afghanistan had already been written off. A misplaced trigger, deserted by those that had promised to guard it. The indicators had been there. Biden might have paused the withdrawal when it grew to become clear the Taliban wouldn’t honor its commitments. Diplomats had the proof; they knew what was coming. However Washington, caught up in its personal inertia, selected to look the opposite method.

Then there’s the choice to nominate Zalmay Khalilzad to guide American negotiations with the Taliban. Khalilzad, an Afghan by delivery, was anticipated to resonate with the Afghan individuals whereas representing U.S. pursuits. He failed on each fronts. His mission was threefold: to facilitate a secure U.S. army withdrawal, to make sure that Afghanistan wouldn’t turn out to be a terrorist haven and to information intra-Afghan negotiations. He achieved none of those.

The Doha Agreement, signed in early 2020 and touted as a roadmap for peace, had nothing to do with the Afghan individuals or authorities. It was a calculated transfer by the U.S. to justify its departure underneath the guise of “intra-Afghan talks.”

The report highlights how the Taliban blatantly violated its commitments. However what penalties did it face? None. This settlement was by no means about the way forward for Afghanistan — it was about washing America’s fingers of a battle it now not wished to struggle.

What the U.S. didn’t see, and what this report neglects, is that NATO forces weren’t simply preventing the Taliban — Iran, China, Russia and Pakistan all had a stake in Afghanistan’s future. The U.S. was caught in an internet of world pursuits, a few of which quietly cheered the autumn of Kabul, realizing it might weaken America’s place on the world stage.

Whereas a lot of the report is geared towards the American public, you will need to acknowledge that Afghanistan’s downfall wasn’t solely the results of American-led NATO failure. Afghan society, too, bears its share of the blame.

Regardless of 20 years of immense worldwide help and alternatives for improvement, the Afghan individuals — whether or not by means of inside divisions, corruption or the shortcoming to interrupt free from deep-rooted energy constructions — didn’t seize these alternatives totally. The burden of accountability is shared, and this reality, whereas uncomfortable, can’t be ignored.

Lastly, the report fixates on tactical errors however misses the better failure: The U.S. by no means actually ready Afghanistan’s forces for independence. The battle effort was privatized — civilian contractors changed troopers, costing extra whereas fostering corruption. In the long run, it wasn’t only a army failure — it was a systemic one. A system the U.S. constructed, propped up and finally deserted.

The Home report tells a narrative of chaos and failure. Nevertheless it’s an incomplete one. The true failure wasn’t tactical, however ethical, strategic and diplomatic. And it’s a failure that may hang-out not simply Afghanistan however America for years to return.

Saboor Sakhizada is a former advisor and translator for the U.S. army in Afghanistan. Initially from Afghanistan, he now resides in Syracuse, N.Y., the place he works with veteran and army households.