The United States completed its’ full withdrawal of troops on August 30th, 2021 and brought to a close a 20 year war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. The dramatic final chapter of what Biden called the “Forever War” seems like a fitting end to an otherwise messy, morally ambiguous, and complicated relationship between the United States and Afghanistan.
But even after a war full of government mismanagement and unnecessary lives lost, the consequences of the past 20 years have yet to come into fruition. In the meantime, Afghanistan is still trying to find its’ identity under Taliban rule. Some have claimed that the Taliban of today are different from the Taliban of the late 1900’s. They are more organized, politically savvy, and technologically advanced. Even so, the Taliban have not changed their fundamental beliefs about Islam and its’ strict control over the lives of women. Human’s and women’s rights have remained a key concern of activists. Even with the Taliban’s “promise” to let girls attend school, in practice, there is no indication that any such concession is taking place.
The United States now faces a completely different set of problems. Namely, how the changing regime in Afghanistan affects United States’ national security in the long run. The Taliban have been adamant that they will not be a terrorist threat to the United States but were quick to break their ceasefire agreement with the Trump administration. In addition, the United States has a much smaller military presence in the middle east and may not be as capable when it comes to identifying and stopping terrorist threats from abroad.
The next few months will be a critical period in Afghanistan that will likely set the tone for many years to come. Whatever that future may be it is sure to have implications not only in the Middle East but around the world.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group Blog. If you are in need of legal help, the CIMA Law Group is a law firm in Phoenix, Arizona which possesses expertise in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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