'Impossible for US to re-enter Afghanistan after troops withdrwal'
Jul 19, 2021
Washington [US], July 20 : US lawmaker Adam Kinzinger has deemed it will be "impossible" for the United States forces to re-enter Afghanistan if the security situation collapses in the war-torn country after a complete drawdown.
Kinzinger, a Republican US representative, was among the congressional leaders in recent days speculating that the US "may have to go back now," US News reported.
However, when asked about the challenges of returning, Kinzinger said: "The US has the capability to do anything. But it would be a near-impossible situation."
Experts believe that the return to Afghanistan would be difficult as neighbouring countries are not in favour of Washington coming back.
"The neighbours do not want us to come back," says Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation and an expert on the decades-long NATO presence in Afghanistan.
Russia is currently holding drills in Tajikistan on Afghanistan's northern border to prepare for potential security threats posed by the Taliban.
However, many in the Biden administration believe that Moscow is actually exerting pressure on its former Soviet ally not to cooperate with American efforts to establish a new counter-terrorism base that would allow the US to operate in Afghanistan without having to maintain a presence there outside the embassy.
Meanwhile, Beijing has stepped up its pressure on Pakistan, following a years-long campaign of bringing Islamabad closer into alignment with Beijing's intentions for the region - all at America's expense.
Chinese officials are planning trips to other nearby countries the US is currently courting to, in a bid to subdue the chaos left by the power vacuum in Afghanistan and will also push ties between China and other Central Asian countries closer.
Indeed, when asked last week whether the US military had the capability to return to Afghanistan should it need to, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on what he called a hypothetical question, saying the military was focused on "transitioning to a renewed relationship with Afghan forces."
"And, again," Kirby added, "the president has been very clear that we are going to maintain and retain a counterterrorism capability commensurate with whatever threat might emanate out of Afghanistan toward the homeland."
