The Report from Kabul by Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, should force the world to confront the devastating consequences of the so-called “war on terror.”
George W. Bush projected strength through military slogans and overwhelming force. Yet the wars launched in the aftermath of September 11 created consequences that lasted for generations.
In Afghanistan, the initial U.S.-led campaign drove the Taliban from power, but the war did not end. The prolonged military occupation, civilian suffering, political failures and refusal to recognize the possibility of negotiations with elements of the Taliban helped create conditions for the movement to reorganize and return. After two decades of war, the Taliban captured Kabul again in 2021.
The result was a devastating vacuum: enormous resources were spent on war while Afghanistan remained deeply impoverished and dependent on humanitarian assistance. Today, Afghan Women And Girls face severe restrictions on education, employment and public life, while humanitarian organizations warn that shrinking international aid is leaving vulnerable families even more exposed
Iraq offers another devastating lesson. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Coalition Provisional Authority, under Paul Bremer, disbanded the Iraqi Army and removed many Ba’athists from government institutions. These decisions contributed to a security vacuum and deep resentment, helping create conditions in which insurgent and extremist organizations could grow.
The tragedy is that a war supposedly fought to defeat terrorism helped produce new spaces in which extremist movements could recruit, reorganize and spread. Al-Qaeda In Iraq emerged after the invasion, while the broader instability created by the wars helped extremist networks expand across the region.
We must therefore ask a fundamental question: Did endless war make the world safer, or did it create new vacuums, new grievances and new generations of suffering?
Afghanistan's people are paying an enormous price. Jan Egeland is right to warn about the humanitarian consequences of shrinking aid. The answer cannot be another cycle of bombs and military occupation. Afghanistan needs humanitarian assistance, education, economic opportunity, diplomacy and respect for the rights and dignity of its people.
Twenty-five years after September 11, the greatest lesson should be that military power alone cannot defeat extremism. Peace, justice, diplomacy, humanitarian assistance and human dignity must replace the endless cycle of war.
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