Pentagon to reassess two decades of war in Afghanistan

Washington [US], July 4 : Four years after the controversial withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the Pentagon has launched a new review of the two-decade-long war in the country.

The aim of this review is to extract key lessons from the wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam to avoid repeating past mistakes, TOLO News reported.

Sean Parnell, spokesperson for the US Department of Defense, confirmed that a special investigative team will officially begin work in July to examine the consequences of America's 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon spokesperson stated, "So, the question that I have here and that the department has, is what happened? Like, how do we as a department make sure that something like in Vietnam, and something there again that happened in Afghanistan, never happens again? Helicopters and embassies in Vietnam, helicopters and embassies and in Afghanistan, it's just not the desired end state that we were looking for in those conflicts."

He added that the assessment will be conducted on three levels: tactical, strategic, and even presidential.

Experts believe this process could influence the future direction of US policy regarding military interventions, TOLO News reported.

Fazl-ur-Rahman Oria, a political analyst, said: "Now that the US is reviewing its two-decade military presence and failure in Afghanistan, this is a positive step. It serves as a valuable lesson for the US to avoid using force and violence against Afghans in the future, and instead engage in political and economic interactions with Afghanistan."

Sadiq Shinwari, a military analyst, commented, "The United States and NATO made mistakes in Afghanistan over the past two decades. To rectify those errors, they can now choose the path of dialogue."

So far, the interim government in Afghanistan has not issued an official response to the investigation. However, as the review begins, global discussions continue regarding the US role in the 2021 developments from the Doha Agreement with the Islamic Emirate to the swift collapse of the previous Afghan government, TOLO News added.

The US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 was marked by chaos at Kabul airport, the collapse of the previous government, and the takeover by the Islamic Emirate, a process that sparked widespread backlash and intense criticism both inside and outside the United States, TOLO News reported.

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