Afghan Withdrawal: A Shift of Focus to Russia and China

Watch the trailer to the film 'Restrepo' about the war in Afghanistan

Washington - The Afghan war has been the longest war in the history of the United States, as well as the deadliest ongoing conflict in the world today in terms of conflict-related deaths. President Biden officially announced the withdrawal of all United States as well as NATO troops from Afghanistan this week, which shall take place between the 1st of May and the 11th of September. Soon after President Biden's announcement on the withdrawal of troops, all NATO members including the United Kingdom put out a joint statement, confirming their plan to participate in an “orderly, coordinated, and deliberate” withdrawal of troops along with the US. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kabul Thursday for talks with the Afghan government following the announcement.

Many officials, diplomats, and analysts including William Burns, the CIA director, believe there are "significant risks" that the Taliban could soon be back in control across the country, and that there could be a resurgence of al-Qaida and ISIS in Afghanistan. However, Blinken stated “We've achieved the objective we set out nearly 20 years ago. We never intended to have a permanent military presence here", while the NATO members stated, “there is no military solution to the challenges Afghanistan faces". Former British joint forces commander General Sir Richard Barrons said although there is a widely understood view that the Taliban would take a summer vacation and come back in Autumn after the US and NATO forces are out, to start their armed disputes with the Afghan government, there is also an opposite view that this might actually accelerate the peace process, as it would no longer be affected by the presence of foreign forces. President Biden also clarified the decision during the press conference, saying "We went for two reasons: get rid of bin Laden and to end the safe haven. I never thought we were there to somehow unify … Afghanistan. It’s never been done.”

The move can be understood as an indication of the shift of focus by Washington and NATO from Afghanistan to the big power rivals, namely China and Russia. Russia's troop buildup on the Ukrainian border is the largest since just before the invasion of Crimea. About twenty or even ten years ago, the idea of NATO became quite unclear, but since Crimea and especially the recent Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, the existence of NATO finds new relevance. Ukrainian President Zelensky has also recently indicated the need to speed up the country's path to joining NATO. "NATO is the only way to end the war in Donbas", he said.

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Daunte Wright: Yet Another Black Man Killed by Minneapolis Police

The bodycam footage of the incident leading to the shooting of Daunte Wright

Minneapolis - We are just about a month away from the first anniversary of the killing of George Floyd in the hands of the Minneapolis police, which erupted massive protests unprecedented in the history of the United States and gave rise to a new wave of Black Lives Matter movement all across the globe. A similar event took place again last Sunday in Minneapolis - another African American man by the name of Daunte Wright was shot by a policewoman named Kim Potter, mistaking her handgun for a Taser. Potter has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Protests have been going on at the Brooklyn Center police station for the past four days since the incident, defying curfews. More than 3,000 Minnesota National Guard members have now been activated in the Twin Cities area. President Biden, addressing the protests, said "Peaceful protest is understandable. And the fact is that we do know that the anger, pain, and trauma that exists in the Black community in that environment is real – it's serious, and it's consequential. But that does not justify violence. We should listen to Daunte's mom who is calling for peace and calm". “All this family is striving for is to get full accountability, get equal justice. Nothing more and nothing less", said the lawyer of the Wright family, adding also that the move to charge Potter also represented some progress, considering the lack of prosecution of officers in the killings of black men in the recent past, such as in the case of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

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