By Wu Liming
8月15日，塔利班进入喀布尔、塔利班代表在与阿富汗政府商讨“和平移交权力”、阿总统加尼“出走”他国……一日之间，阿富汗局势的发展急转直下，“游戏终结”成为西方舆论的嗟叹。
On August 15, the Taliban entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and began to negotiate on a “peaceful transfer of power” with the Afghan government. At the same time, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “fled” abroad. Almost overnight, the situation in Afghanistan changed dramatically. The media of some Western powers had to lament their countries’ failure in Afghanistan as an “end game.”
历史不会简单地重复自己，但往往踏着相似的节拍。 History wouldn’t simply repeat itself, but it usually follows similar paces.
人们记得，上世纪70年代，美国从耗时20年的越南战争泥潭中心怀不甘地抽身而去，越共闪电般解放了西贡，美国支持的南越政权不久即灰飞烟灭。
而今，“西贡陷落”的历史在阿富汗重演，只不过其速度之快超乎许多人的想象，尤其是对于主宰了阿富汗20年的美国来说，“误判”的借口颇为风行。
Many still remember that back in the 1970s, when the US withdrew unwillingly from the mire of the Vietnam War that lasted for 20 years, the forces of the Communist Party of Vietnam quickly liberated Saigon, and the South Vietnamese government supported by the US soon collapsed.
What is happening in Afghanistan is reminiscent of the “fall of Saigon,” except that the fall of Kabul was much faster than many had imagined. In particular, the US, which dominated Afghanistan in the past two decades, used “misjudgment of the situation” as the pretext for its failure in the Asian country.
“喀布尔陷落”标志着美国在这场漫长的战争中无功而返。20年里，2000多名美军在阿富汗战场丧生，数万人受伤，战争耗资总额超过2万亿美元。阿富汗需要“无底洞式”投入，是不得不甩掉的“包袱”。
The “fall of Kabul” marked the failure of the US in the lengthy war. Over the past 20 years, more than 2,000 American soldiers have been killed and tens of thousands injured on the battlefield of Afghanistan, and the war cost the US more than US$ 2 trillion. For the US, the Afghanistan war is like a bottomless pit for its investment, so it’s eager to get rid of this burden.
“喀布尔陷落”标志着美国国际形象和信誉崩塌。20年过去，北约盟友跟着美国在阿富汗转了一圈，出钱出枪出人，最终落得一地鸡毛，再次证明当美国的“小跟班”没有好果子吃。
The “fall of Kabul” indicates the collapse of the US’ international image and reputation. After 20 years of fruitless effort, its NATO allies followed the US to join the Afghanistan war, to which they contributed funds, weapons and troops but ended up with a failure. This once again proves that serving as “sidekicks” of the US won’t meet a good end.
美国可以一撤了之，但留给阿富汗人民的痛苦无穷无尽。20年来，阿富汗已有3万多名平民被美军打死、炸死或因美军带来的战乱死亡，受伤人数超过6万，约1100万人沦为难民。事实一再明证，美国是全球最大的动乱输出国，其“唯我独尊、宁负天下”的霸权主义政策已经制造了太多人间悲剧。
The US may withdraw from Afghanistan, but it left infinite pain for the Afghan people. In the past 20 years, more than 30,000 civilians in Afghanistan were killed or bombed by the US troops or died in the war-torn chaos caused by the US, more than 60,000 injured, and about 11 million became refugees. Facts repeatedly show that the US is the biggest factor for unrest globally. Its hegemonic policy that “seeks supremacy at the risk of failing the world” has resulted in countless human tragedies.
“喀布尔陷落”标志着美国霸权走向衰落的又一个转折点。众所周知，冷战结束后，作为唯一的超级大国美国一时风头无二，“历史终结论”甚嚣尘上。20世纪末尝到轰炸南联盟的甜头后，美国在21世纪初打响了阿富汗战争与伊拉克战争，尽显“舍我其谁”的霸主做派。殊不知，天道轮回，穷兵黩武、称王称霸不可能持久。
The “fall of Kabul” marked a turning point of US hegemony towards decline. As we all know, after the end of the Cold War, the US became the world’s only superpower, giving the rise to the theory of the “end of history.” Tempted by the gains it earned from bombing Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century, the US launched the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war at the turn of the 21st century, in an attempt to expand its hegemony. However, the evolution of history has its own law. It is destined that belligerence and hegemony wouldn’t last long.
2010年12月，美国《国家》杂志刊登题为《美帝国的衰亡》的文章认为，2003年美入侵伊拉克是美国衰落的开始，颇有先见之明。
此后，历经全球金融危机、新冠疫情等多重打击，美国霸权走向衰落已成为不争的现实，折戟阿富汗不过是美霸权“螺旋式下落”的又一个节点。
OnDecember of 2010, the US-based magazine The Nation published an article titled “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire,” which noted that the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 heralded the decline of America, which turned out to be prescient.
Later, impacted by multiple challenges such as the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the decline of US hegemony has been an indisputable fact. Its failure in Afghanistan is just another point in the “downward spiral” of US hegemony.
