BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFA
In his speech days ago about the US military leaving the Afghan land, the US president Joe Biden has made it clear that the United States of America never had any concerns about humanitarian crises in its history of foreign relations and interferences, but its mere national interest. It seems that four US presidents (Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden) might be held responsible for the chaos in Afghanistan; no, it is not. Rather it is the US system that should be abolished. Where in the world can anyone find peace and development after the deployment of US military force? Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, Afghanistan and many more had been peaceful countries until the US brutal imperial system brought chaos, death and destruction into their lands.
It is really painful to be an Afghan at this moment. The US has denied the Afghans and exposed them to further looming crises. Abandoning the people after two decades is among the worst betrayals that one can suffer. The President failed at least to take responsibility for their policy failure rather he accused the Afghan leaders and the troops he claims that his country has trained and equipped. Joe Biden could have at least used humble and diplomatic words while trying to justify the departure of the US troops from the Afghan land.
“…..we went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals…..get those who attacked us on September 11, 2001 and make sure Al Qaeda couldn’t use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that…….”
“Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to be nation building. It is never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy. Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what has always been…..Preventing a terrorist attack on American homeland…..”
Here are the brutal and painful facts. This is exactly how the US foreign policy is designed and implemented. No concern for the lives of innocent civilians, no concern for the peace and security of the nation, no concern for what the rest of the world would say. Just pursue one particular concern, that is, the US national interest. The Americans do whatever it takes to impose their national interests. It is of course an undisputed international relations fact that any nation in the world to prioritize its national interest in its foreign relations. However, there are international moral standards attached to each and every action a particular nation takes. It is however unfortunate that such a term and concept has been deleted from the US dictionary long ago. To impose ones interest on another the difference requires several factors such as military power, economic power, diplomatic skills, resource endowment, geostrategic location, religion, race, history, ideology, domestic peace and security, public opinion, personality and attitude of leaders (idiosyncratic values), time, occasions et al.
The United States has been imposing, interfering, and meddling in various affairs in almost all corners of the world since it acquires both the soft and hard sources of power. It is this pride that made the US act in such a brutish manner. I have no doubt that time will come every nations pay a double price for every of its ruthless behaviors. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Particularly after the end of the Second World War (WWII), the United States rose as a super power both in economic supremacy and military strength. Since then the US started to consider itself as a world police and each and every event that takes place on the planet needed US’ say. With a very intelligent move the US managed to make the US Dollar an international currency and with that they controlled the World’s economy and the movement of goods and services around the globe. Right after the end of WWII in 1945, the US established the IMF and WB in the name of finance providers to rebuild the destructed Europe. These institutions do actually serve the interests of US since that very day.
Their supremacy in economy (soft power) and military capacity (hard power) enabled them to impose their mere national interest in all corners of the world. The role the Holly Wood and CIA play in image building and intelligence works respectively is also very significant. There is no stone that the United States would leave unturned to realize its national interest. America’s friends and enemies are identified based on their position in relation to the US national interest. The US has no problem with religion or even terrorist acts as long as it goes along with the interests. For instance, the US is concerned about the extreme Islamic sentiments of the Taliban while cuddling the most religiously extreme country, Saudi Arabia. Again, the US is concerned about Al Shabab while creating and nurturing the ISIS. When it comes to the US, it doesn’t matter where the groups it stands if it is aligned according to her interest.
Joe Biden and his three predecessors have been supporting the Afghan government in so many ways, be it in economy or military. The US has trained and equipped more than 300,000 Afghan government soldiers to fight against the Taliban. On the reverse, the US supported the ISIS (the terrorist group) to fight against the legitimate Syrian government, Bashar Al Asad.
The same is true in the Ethiopian case where the US is supporting the TPLF group and its operatives in their fight against the Federal government of Ethiopia. According to experts, the US and its allies want to see a weaker Ethiopia so that they can reduce Ethiopia’s role and significance in Eastern Africa on one hand. And on the other, they need to have a puppet government in Ethiopia. The US and its allies have believed that the rise and advance of Ethiopia in economy and military can be a threat for the fact that Ethiopia can’t bow to any foreign power. This Ethiopian spirit, if coupled with economic and military capabilities, could electrify throughout the African continent through time and the Westerners might not be able to loot African resources as they used to. Therefore, Ethiopia’s rise is an active threat to the US and the West in general.
The US also fears the alliance of Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is therefore geopolitically strategic to support the TPLF group so that it can abort this relationship. Using the humanitarian crises over the Tigray region as a pretext for intervention has become obsolete and the US has now began to explicitly show and give its support for the TPLF group and will continue to do so. It is therefore necessary for the Ethiopian government to take form a counter alliance with other states and groups to withstand the pressure. The flight of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to Eritrea and Turkey sends a message to the group on the other side and it is of course a commendable action. We as a government need to follow and implement active foreign policy measures and also learn from the experience of other nations that stayed resilient against the US imperial ambitions and interventions.
Ethiopia Shall Prevail!
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD AUGUST 20/ 2021
