President George W Bush, with the full backing of the American people, invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. As was easily predictable, they quickly defeated the Taliban Government, which had been aided by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The plan was to get Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on America. Bin Laden escaped into Pakistan and was later killed there.

Since the invasion and predictable victory, America made the serious mistake of thinking that it could graft a scion of American liberal democracy on that country or, otherwise, impose Western values on a country that had long-established ways of looking at the world — long before America itself became a reality.

Fast-forward to today, some two decades later, and what do we see? Unfolding right now we see an America trying to beat a hasty retreat out of Afghanistan.

A newly constituted Taliban Government has emerged. Within a short time, it has retaken more than one-half of the country with eyes set on the big prize, Kabul. Within a weekend, its forces had marched into the capital without a bullet being fired. Taliban functionaries went into the presidential office to tell the world that they were back. By then the feckless and, no doubt, frightened Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, had fled the country.

The big question, on perhaps even the mind of the Taliban, is what went wrong. Why, after 20 years of blood, sweat, treasure, and sacrifice, America now finds itself in the horrible situation of retreating from the country with thousands of American citizens in harm’s way, and a commitment to evacuate Afghanis who had served them well in jeopardy of being unfulfilled.

Even US President Joe Biden has admitted that American personnel are negotiating with the Taliban to ensure easy passage of these people to the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The chaotic exit, with people being killed in the rush to get out is a humiliation of mammoth proportions.

The Administration, of course, is not seeing it in these terms, but it is clear to those who would acknowledge the truth that the American retreat is chaotic, shambolic, and lacking anything that could be considered a well-thought-out strategy.

The president’s press conferences are not helping. His attempts at reassuring Americans that the Government is doing all in its power to get Americans out of harm’s way, and get them safely home, now seem hollow to the thousands and their family members desperate to get out. When you truly consider the debacle, the president’s rhetoric of assurance does not match the videos on the ground or the reports from brave reporters trying to get the news out.

Yes, the Government was overtaken by the swift fall of the country, but was this not predictable? Why was the Bagram Air Force Base closed and soldiers evacuated when more than a half of the country had fallen to the Taliban?

I am no military analyst, but it would seem to me that closing the Bagram airbase was a tragic error that the Government will live to regret. One can be sure that if they had foreseen the swift takeover of Kabul, they would have retained the facility and even put more soldiers there. Then they could have used this as a buffer to ensure a more orderly procession of people out of the country.

Also, setting dates do not work, especially if you are in a situation of uncertainty as to whether you can maintain those timelines. The president has doubled down on the tight August 31 deadline. He needs to broaden this indefinitely with the caveat that they will leave only after every American life has been secured and those given special immigration visas (SIVs) are evacuated.

Without a stronger military presence this is hardly likely. The Taliban know that time is on their side. They now have the country in the palm of their hand so there is no need to hurry and spoil it. There is a quip making the rounds that Americans have the watch but the Taliban have the time. They are showing restraint at the moment, but they are biding their time.

In a chaotic and volatile situation like what we are witnessing on the ground in that beleaguered country anything can go wrong. How long will the Taliban continue to cooperate? What are they extracting from the Americans for this cooperation? Time will answer these questions.

Biden keeps saying that he does not regret leaving Afghanistan. This finds favour with most Americans who also want to see an end to America’s presence there. It has cost the country almost US$2 trillion, almost US$100 billion of which was poured into creating an Afghan army that would ostensibly defeat the Taliban or, at any rate, prevent them from regaining power.

As things unfurl, the method of the withdrawal has proven to be a tragic mistake. It would behove the president to be more contrite in light of the chaos on the ground. He should express his regret, let Americans know categorically that he does, and promise to fix it. There is a lot of blame to go around, but he stands on the bridge at this time.

The might and vaunted power of America gives the illusion that they can remedy any wrong in any part of the world. Just throw the necessary money and force at the problem and all will turn out right. They were wrong on this notion in Vietnam. They left that country in the same chaotic manner that they are now fleeing Afghanistan. They left Iraq a bit more orderly, but only after over US$1 trillion was spent. Their exit gave birth to the Islamic Caliphate (ISIS). Now they are leaving Afghanistan with an uncertain future.

America’s generosity to the world cannot be denied, but often it is a naïve generosity that is borne out of a vaunted belief in its power, wealth, and greatness. It is a naïve generosity that often puts the world at great risk.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm and Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life . Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.