World

Willful use of force would only create more problems for U.S.


The U.S. has long been obsessed with its military strength, thinking it can do whatever it wants in
the world as the strongest military power. However, such mirage is once again broken by the
Afghan War that lasted entire two decades, as American guns and grenades brought no peace, but
only misery and constant regional turbulence.


The willful use of force of the U.S. is not a solution to, but a generator of problems, which is a
great irony to the military-worshipping American hegemony.


The chaos triggered by the hasty withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan aroused heated
discussion in the U.S. society.


“The magnitude of the United States’ failure in Afghanistan is breathtaking,” said professor
Jeffrey Sachs of the Columbia University in a recent article. Sachs called it an abiding failure of
American political culture, a failure of the U.S. foreign-policy establishment’s belief that the
solution to every political challenge is military intervention or CIA-backed destabilization.


Adam Weinstein, a researcher with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and one who
was deployed in Afghanistan by the U.S. military, said that the chaos that follows intervention and
the chaos that follows withdrawal are rooted in the same fundamental mistake — that the U.S.
thinks it can use its military to affect permanent social and political change in countries that it
occupies.


The strategic failure of the Afghan policy of the U.S. reflects how the country’s willful use of
force can harm the globe.


According to incomplete statistics, 201, or around 81 percent of the 248 armed conflicts taking
place in 153 regions between the end of the World War II in 1945 and 2001, were initiated by the
U.S. Besides, military means have been placed at an important position in American strategies
since the Cold War ended.


The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs of Brown University found in its Costs of
War program that the U.S. has spent more than $6.4 trillion in counterterrorism wars and smaller
operations it has launched in 80 countries since 2001. Over 800,000 people have died as a direct
result of fighting in these wars and operations, including 335,000 civilians. The number of indirect
deaths could be several times than the figure. Another 21 million people have been displaced due
to violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The willful use of force is making the U.S. the world’s
largest exporter of chaos and maker of humanitarian disasters.


To prevent what has happened in Kabul recently from happening again, the U.S. must abandon its
willful use of force. Since the U.S. declared independence on July 4, 1776, only less than 20 years
have passed without a war in the country’s 240-year history, which makes it the most warlike
nation of the world. Since 1945, the U.S. has established nearly 800 military bases in some 70
countries around the world. According to statistics released by the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute, U.S. military expenditure reached an estimated $778 billion last year,
accounting for 39 percent of the world’s total. Analysts believe that the U.S. is not stopping its
steps of abusing its military power.


To prevent what has happened in Kabul recently from happening again, the US must hold back its
impulse to transform other nations. Some U.S. media commented that from the “Vietnam
Syndrome” in the last century to the “Afghanistan Syndrome” today, the U.S. once and again tries
to mould other countries according to its own will. This has led the U.S. into disastrous abyss time and again.


French diplomat Gérard Araud said in a recent article that people can’t build democracy with
hammers and swords. However, the U.S., declaring to “lead not merely by the example of our
power, but by the power of our example,” only showcased its politicians’ fascination with military
means, rather than introspection on its willful use of force.


Though the White House promised it will not promote democracy through costly military
interventions, it is just striking a pose to protect its own image and interests, and the promise is not
a conclusion reached for world peace and development. There will be no concrete change.


The situation in Afghanistan is another negative example. The U.S. will have another rough time
if it doesn’t learn from it.


(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on China’s foreign
policy and international affairs.)

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