This was very revealing on the Alex Salmond show
Colonel Laurence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to U.S.A. Secretary of State General Colin Powell, explains to Alex Salmond why America went into Afghanistan and the consequences of its rapid withdrawal some two decades later.
This chap was right on the ball.
One of the reasons for going in to Afghanistan was to keep three enemies of the U.S.A. apart
IRAN and CHINA and RUSSIA.
Iran would be economically viable if it could pipe Oil and Methane overland direct to China. China could hoover up all the fabulous mineral wealth of Afghanistan and drive its Belt and Road through Afghanistan directly to the Gulf of Persia. Iran has the world’s second largest reserves after Russia.
So, imagine if Russia reabsorbed Ex-Soviet Central Asia, piping Hydrocarbons into India and China. This scenario would almost make the U.S.A. second or third rate.
It was madness for America to let Afghanistan slip away.