While NATO decreed the “war” in Afghanistan had ended several years ago, Antiwar.com reports NATO’s “military involvement didn’t significantly change on that date,” and NATO involvement was then set to end at the end of 2016. Antiwar.com adds, “No one had any realistic expectation that the 2016 date would be the actual end to the mission.” And sure enough NATO announced on May 20 that NATO forces would remain in the occupied nation indefinitely.
This should come as no surprise to anyone, as the US military in 2014 announced a deal with the Afghan government that US forces could remain “until the end of 2024 and beyond” with the stipulation that said agreement “may be terminated by mutual written agreement or by either Party upon two years’ written notice to the other Party through diplomatic channels.”
In addition to the announcement that US and NATO troops will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, France24 reports, “NATO members are separately reviewing financial aid to help the Afghan armed forces in a program… extended to 2020.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the Afghan National Army Trust Fund has received over $1.4 billion thus far. Antiwar.com adds, “After 15 years of occupation, NATO has created a huge Afghan military, but the nation has virtually no economy, no tax base, and no chance of paying for it on their own. Most analysts agree this subsidy is going to continue for decades to come.”
France24 adds, “some analysts believe the [Afghan] government would struggle badly or even fall without foreign support.”
In short, the US government in concert with other nations have decided to keep troops in Afghanistan indefinitely, unloaded over $1 billion to the Afghan government and decided to continue pouring money and troops into the country to continue propping up the Afghan government.
Not only is foreign aid immoral because it is funded via coercive taxation, it is in essence a tool used to influence “the policy of other sovereign nations under the guise of aiding needy people in those nations.” The situation in Afghanistan has not noticeably improved over the 15 years and probably won’t improve much over the next 15 years, especially if the US military continues occupying the country and the US government continues dictating policies to the installed leaders in Afghanistan.