By Zhao Guojun
赵国军
On May 14, a mosque in the northern suburb of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, was attacked, leaving at least 12 dead and more than 15 injured. Less than a week earlier, a series of bombings took place near a school in Kabul that left over 50 killed and 100 injured. Ever since the Biden administration announced on April 14 its plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the overall security in the country has kept worsening with frequent attacks on civilians and civil facilities.
5月14日，阿富汗首都喀布尔北部郊区一座清真寺遭袭击，造成至少12人死亡，超过15人受伤。不到一周前，阿富汗首都喀布尔一所学校附近也发生连环爆炸，造成超过50人死亡、逾百人受伤。自拜登政府4月14日宣布撤军计划以来，阿富汗整体安全形势持续恶化，尤其是针对平民和民用设施的袭击频发。
Generally speaking, America’s anti-terror strategy since it waged the Afghan War has proved a failure. It relies too heavily on military operations but does little to push economic and social development; its export of democracy has destroyed the stability of the traditional Afghan society, and its use of UAVs to replace ground forces has created new opportunities for terrorist activities even though it has reduced casualties of American soldiers.
总体上讲，美国发动阿富汗战争以来的反恐战略已经宣告失败：过于倚重军事反恐而疏于经济社会建设；输出“民主”实际上破坏阿传统社会的稳定结构；以无人机部分代替地面部队固然减少了美军伤亡，却为恐怖组织的活动创造了新“机会”。
Yet Washington has arbitrarily announced that it had basically achieved all its anti-terror goals and therefore insisted on pulling its troops out of Afghanistan regardless of the international community’s serious concerns that such a hurried decision may lead to a resurge of terrorism. Having neither uprooted terrorist organizations nor restored peace in Afghanistan, the US just packed up and pulled out, leaving all the mess and ruins to the regional countries and the Afghan people. This is highly irresponsible. America’s consistent pursuit of narrow-minded national interests and practicality is fully demonstrated in its attitude toward Afghanistan.
然而，美政府却武断宣布其反恐目标已经基本实现，因此不顾国际社会对仓促撤军可能引发恐怖主义反弹的强烈担忧，坚持从阿撤军。在没有根除恐怖组织又没有实现阿富汗和平的情况下，美国一走了之，将烂摊子甩给地区国家和阿富汗人民，显然是极其不负责任的。在阿富汗问题上，美国表现出其一贯奉行的追求狭隘国家利益的实用主义做派。
First of all, Biden has, to a large extent, continued his predecessor’s “America first” policy. American decision-makers find it unnecessary to keep a presence in Afghanistan because the terrorist forces there, though not eliminated thoroughly, are unable to launch any terrorist operation against the US homeland anymore. In their eyes, the national strategy is nothing but a cold and callous calculation of cost – they are withdrawing the troops because the US invests too much there and gets too little, making Afghanistan a lousy deal. Such calculations only consider American interests without the slightest concern for the security and welfare of the Afghanis.
首先，拜登政府仍在很大程度上延续了特朗普时期的“美国优先”政策。美方评估认为，尽管阿富汗恐怖主义势力仍未肃清，但已经没有能力从阿富汗发起针对美国本土的恐怖行动，因此美国没必要在阿富汗继续待下去。这表明，美国国家战略不过是一种冷酷的成本计算——撤军是因为美国的资源投入多，利益产出少，太不划算。这种计算只考虑美国自身利益，丝毫未顾及阿富汗人民的安全福祉。
Second, the US puts its counter-terror responsibility below the political interests of the so-called major-power competition. Biden said they should pull troops from Afghanistan to concentrate on other priorities, implying Russia and China, and US Secretary of State Blinken publicly linked the withdrawal with the so-called China-US strategic competition. This fully demonstrates that the US only considers counter-terrorism its responsibility when it directly concerns its own security. The only reason the American military carries out overseas operations is to maintain American hegemony – international humanism is never on their map.
其次，美国将反恐责任置于所谓大国竞争的政治利益之下。拜登表示，美国应当从阿富汗撤军以集中精力处理其他优先事项，暗含针对俄罗斯和中国之意。美国国务卿布林肯则公开将从阿撤军与所谓的中美战略竞争联系到一起。这充分说明，反恐只有在直接涉及自身安全的时候才会成为美国的“责任”。美军海外行动从来都只为维护霸权，与真正的国际道义无关。
Third, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan exposes America’s “pseudo-multilateralism”. When the UN Security Council adopted the resolution on combatting terrorism back in the years, the US sent troops to Afghanistan under the banner of “counter-terrorism”; but now it cannot wait to pull out to avoid getting mired in the Afghan War, fully proving that international multilateral mechanism is nothing but a tool to lend legitimacy to its sending of troops and waging of wars. The US unilaterally decided to pull the troops without consulting with regional countries, but those countries have to be responsible for Afghanistan’s stability and regional security after the American forces are gone. The US shows no respect at all for multilateralism.
其三，从阿撤军体现美坚持的是“伪多边主义”。当初美国在联合国安理会通过打击恐怖主义的有关决议之际，打着“反恐”的旗号出兵阿富汗，如今为避免继续深陷阿富汗战争泥潭又仓促撤军，说明国际多边机制不过是其获取出兵“正当性”的工具。此番撤军，美方并没有与地区国家协商就单方面宣称，美军撤走后，阿富汗稳定和地区安全应由地区国家自己负责，从中丝毫看不到对多边主义的尊重。
At last, America’s post-withdrawal plan is equally irresponsible and perfunctory. The Biden administration promised to continue to aid the Afghan government, but such lip service, according to analysts, is far from enough to maintain stability in the country. Moreover, the US even expects the Taliban to sever ties with Al Qaeda and undertake anti-terror responsibilities. What ridiculous wishful thinking!
最后，美国的不负责任还体现于撤军后应对预案的潦草塞责。拜登政府虽然承诺会继续援助阿富汗政府，但是分析人士认为，这种口头承诺对于维护阿富汗的稳定是远远不够的。另外，美国寄希望于塔利班与“基地”组织切断联系，甚至让其承担起反恐责任，多少也有些一厢情愿。
America’s hurried withdrawal of troops when terrorism is not completely cleared in Afghanistan is no different from giving free rein to terrorist forces in the region, and terrorist threats in Afghanistan may quickly spread to Central and Southern Asia and eventually come back to haunt the US itself. Right after Biden’s announcement of the withdrawn, American media pointed out that although terrorist organizations in Afghanistan won’t pose a severe threat to the US in the short term, it’s hard to predict their long-term development because the withdrawal will create a hotbed for their expansion.
事实上，美国在没有消除恐怖主义的情况下就急忙撤军，基本等同于放任恐怖主义势力在阿坐大。阿富汗境内的恐怖威胁很容易外溢至中亚、南亚地区，有可能最终反噬到美国自己。在拜登宣布撤军后，美国媒体就刊文指出，虽然短期内阿富汗境内恐怖势力针对美国的威胁不会大幅增加，但长期来看很难预测，因为美军的撤离给恐怖组织扩张力量创造了条件。
