THE last US Marines unit and British combat troops officially ended their operation in Afghanistan as they packed up to leave the country and transferred a massive military base to the Afghan military. American and British flags were lowered and then folded up at the regional headquarters of the international military. Thus ended America’s longest war 13 years after the toppling of the Taliban’s radical Islamist regime. The troops left the strategic province of Halmand. Camp Leatherneck was the largest US base to be handed over to Afghan control. The US- UK coalition has signalled the finale and the Afghan Army and police are now left to fight the recalcitrant Taliban. The Regional Command (Southwest) which teemed with 40 thousand personnel now looks a spectre city. The most recent official estimate of combined international troops lingering on is 4500. The last few will soon leave the war–torn land where a large number of US marines and British troops laid down their lives.
This withdrawal is a different proposition from the US pullout from Vietnam. In Vietnam, the US propped up a corrupt regime and sent back a huge number of bodybags for a democracy which a great majority of US people including celebrities like Jane Fonda found preposterous. For some time, only waste remained but today Vietnam is a major US trading partner. The Afghan campaign presented a different story. The US left on its own and the present government in Kabul based on power-sharing is not very happy. A small fraction of US personnel will remain for a couple of more years but that will not significantly strengthen Afghan resistance to the Taliban. Some of the moderate Taliban are reportedly willing to play ball with democratic forces but the future of Afghanistan remains murky. India is engaged in Afghan reconstruction and has to keep its eyes skinned about future developments in the neighboring state.
