DISINFO: The US seeded chaos in Afghanistan to undermine China and Russia
SUMMARY
The US left chaos seeded in Afghanistan to try, in this way, to undermine its neighbouring countries in Central Asia, and therefore China and Russia. The US is not leaving the Middle East and Central Asia, because staying there is part of its essential strategy. They will simply leave the problems that they created with the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan consume the area, that is its intention.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation about the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan combined with recurring narratives around destabilising Russia and about Russia as the ultimate target of current events.
Contrary to the claim, the US decision to leave Afghanistan is the result of the lack of success of a very costly campaign -both in economic terms and in human casualties- aiming to stabilise the country after the 2001 invasion. Faced with lack of commitment and will by the local government and will to fight by Afghan forces, with enduring insurgency and with few tangible results in military terms after two decades, and with a wide majority of US public opinion backing the withdrawal, successive US administrations have trying to withdraw from Afghanistan since 2011.
The affirmation that the real reason for the US to invade and then leave Afghanistan (and, to a lesser degree, Iraq) is to undermine China, Russia and other countries, for which it would have spend over about a trillion dollars and waged a war for 20 years, defies logic.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that NATO is responsible for Afghanistan’s destruction, that the US is supporting and moving ISIS to Afghanistan, that US intelligence is involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activities in the country, or that the West is applying an “Anaconda ring” against China and previously against Russia.