Abstract
This article argues that the USA and its Western allies have misused ‘Just War’ narratives to legitimise an external intervention in Afghanistan and their use of force during the War on Terror. It explores the extent to which such external interventions, military strategies, narratives and justifications by the USA may have contributed to state failure in Afghanistan. As the legitimacy of earlier external interventions is called into question, while the road ahead for Afghanistan remains precarious, thinking about a new paradigm of post-war reconstruction becomes important for the country and its people in years to come.
Highlights
In 2001, the USA invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of the War on Terror with the support of NATO and over 40 countries
Apart from questioning to what extent such military operations are in line with international law, it examines their detrimental impacts on the stability of Afghanistan and directs attention towards the new paradigm of post-war reconstruction
While Walzer (2006: 100) considers the problematic nature of the ‘Ethics of Exit’ and asks whether the proposed future for Afghanistan necessarily includes the presence of the West, Sir Sherard CowperColes, former British Ambassador to Kabul, advises that if Western forces were to leave Afghanistan, the Afghan authorities might not remain in the South of the country for more than 24 hours, and the Taliban would regain control (Bird & Marshall, 2011: 258)
Summary
In 2001, the USA invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of the War on Terror with the support of NATO and over 40 countries. The prolonged intervention in Afghanistan and the strategies used during the War on Terror have begun to raise further questions. Military intervention in Afghanistan may have succeeded in ridding the country from Taliban leaders and forcing al Qaeda out of the state (Carati, 2015: 203).
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