“The worst time in our country… I don’t know what you call it – the defeat of war or the defeat of the mind,” former US President Donald Trump said in an August 17 interview on Fox TV. He cites the decision of his successor, President Joe Biden, to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.
A few hours earlier it was announced that the Republican National Committee had removed the 2020 page in which he praised Trump for “old peace ties with the Taliban”.
While Republicans are trying to hide their support to get out of Afghanistan within the time of the US departure, they, like Democrats, are well aware that it is inevitable and should happen. Media reports show that many U.S. government officials are aware that since the beginning of the war it has been going wrong and would not be possible – if its goal was political without the Taliban.
As the country sees the Taliban re-establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 20 years after it was defeated by a US-led force, one has to ask why Washington lost such a failure? How is it that 40 years after the Vietnam War, it repeated the same mistakes – with no clear intentions or a way out? After many US leaders expressed their skepticism about the war, why was there not enough courage to prepare and do well?
Many see global politics as a game, and in this case, the game is a reality – Jenga. In Jenga, players remove pieces from the platform and place them on top until the tower collapses. No one wins at Jenga; one person loses.
The next three powers knew that the tower would fall and no one would win. However, he falsely claimed in the eyes of the American people that victory was possible and soon lost by pumping millions of dollars and giving thousands of lives of war and war.
He did not plan for the moment when the tower would collapse or take action to help the occupants collapse. The failure was exacerbated by promises of nation building, legislation, women’s rights and education, social change, and “dialogue” with the Taliban. In the end, Afghanistan lost more than 100,000 lives (at least this is acceptable), US – 2,400.
Our history contains a number of similar external manifestations of which temporarily favoritism exceeds the temporary benefits that may exist from the negotiations.
Afghanistan and Iraq are the most recent examples and Vietnam is ancient, but there are also military operations in Haiti (1915-34), the Dominican Republic (1916-24), Cuba (1906-09), and Nicaragua (1912) -33). None of these activities brought about democracy, development, or peace. All of these show the brilliance of American monarchy in total success, which fails to persuade or act lightly (e.g., the assassination of Osama bin Laden must have been enough).
The few politics that go through – “the tower will fall but not in my time” – ignore them like Congresswoman Barbara Lee who wants more time and is looking to get the right answers in the 9/11 attacks. However, we play these games over and over again, knowing full well that no one can win.
It is important to ask what other Jenga’s predictions were outside the US? What are some other ways that everyone knows they will fail but no president wants to take the blame for allowing the tower to collapse?
One of the starting points is the suspicious U.S. riots that are deeply hurt and disruptive but have not led to the consequences of the change in government. Instead, bans create tensions between the majority of the people and are often unhelpful, prompting some nations to become more authoritarian.
Under this scourge, punishment is not simply useless; is brutal and undermines American power. The biggest disadvantage, if unrelated bribes do not work, the answer to Washington is not to question their views, but to escalate with secondary sanctions to third countries.
The most frightening example is the anti-Cuban punishment. Many observers agree that the law does not apply, and almost all countries in the world except the US and Israel vote annually at the United Nations to oppose it. However, no president wants to be responsible for the sanctions and other sanctions that have been in place for 60 years.
One could argue that it helps the Cuban government to mobilize people and brings Washington into conflict with all its members around the world. Instead of leaving Beijing and Moscow, it pushes Havana to them. As a result, the US continues to ban, create unnecessary problems for the Cuban people, fail to change, and turn the US (not Cuba) into a global pariah against its allies.
There is only one way to win the political Jenga – not play. The evils of royalty lead us to build towers that are about to collapse. Each team is responsible for new developments and deaths, expecting delays that could be avoided until they leave office. It’s time to dump her and move on. We don’t need to be in control of the game – the US shouldn’t be in control, they should not be in other countries, and they should be brave enough to tackle the problem.
Negotiations, trade and participation, internationalization, and peace, not war or sanctions, should be our permanent external weapons.
The views expressed in this article are for the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of Al Jazeera.