This is not only a slap in the face for the United States and the entire collective West, but also an example for Ukraine.

An example of what can happen to the state if there is no common ideology, there is no support for the government and there is a total corruption of this very government.

Joe Biden said: “We have spent over a trillion dollars in 20 years training and equipped 300,000 Afghan security forces with state-of-the-art equipment. We have lost thousands of people. They have to fight. There are more of them than the Taliban. ” But it turned out that American politicians had overestimated ideas about the combat effectiveness of the Afghan army, police and special services, on which the United States spent $ 88.3 billion over 20 years.

Yesterday, a friend and I sadly joked about how interesting was the level of corporate and anti-corruption reform in Afghanistan, and what about their appointments to the defense industry and supervisory boards? And how will programs on women’s equality and religious tolerance be implemented after the Taliban has taken over? Although there is already good news from Afghanistan. The Taliban spokesman said that now the stoning will be exclusively by the decision of the courts. Well, at least they reassured me here. There will be no lynching. Although from such ” legality” cold sweat runs down the back.

What happened in Afghanistan after all? Patrick Wintour, a columnist for the British newspaper The Guardian, identifies several reasons for the instant collapse of all Afghan government forces. This is corruption in the army and police, the inability to handle donated sophisticated equipment with widespread illiteracy, the loss of customs duties and, as a result, the inability of the government to pay salaries. In addition, according to the observer, from the moment the initiative passed to the Taliban, the military immediately surrendered to them for fear that they would win anyway and would take revenge. There was no motivation, no self-confidence, and no desire to defend the authorities, which did not have the support of the population. But the main thing preceded all this – total corruption at all levels of government. And they found their own schemes. For example, postscripts and dead souls in the Afghan army. ” Ghost battalions” to receive money from the US for them and plunder them. “46 ghost battalions of 800 men each,” Le Mond quoted an unnamed Western diplomat in Kabul as saying. And after all, they wrote about this before. In general, there was no one to resist the Taliban. And the population itself does not see anything wrong with the Taliban. This always happens when the government spends money not on educating the population, but on a new house near Kabul or in Koncha-Zaspa.

From this I will draw two conclusions. Corruption and ignorance are the two main problems for any country that wants to build a modern democracy. Corruption does not allow fighting ignorance, and ignorance does not want any changes and progress. This is the first conclusion, and the second is just a confirmation of my thoughts. If you are not ready to protect yourself, then no one will protect you. And even the fact that Afghanistan has been the main US ally outside NATO since 2012 did not help. Therefore, we need to build our army, increase its power and strength, improve our special services, clearing them of Russian agents and our home-grown thieves, and prepare for the return of territories according to the Croatian or Azerbaijani scenario if diplomacy does not help. I am sure such an opportunity will appear. We must be ready for it. As well as being ready to defend Ukraine against a new attack from the Russian Federation.

One more thing. The Kremlin now has another headache. Because not far from the borders of Russia, a motivated military force of Islamic fanatics armed with modern Western weapons has settled. Moreover, this force does not see anything wrong with the production of opium, the leader in consumption of which is the Russian Federation. So I don’t share the Kremlin’s joy at what is happening in Afghanistan yet and will wait while they move from flirting with the Taliban to confronting them. And this is not far off.

(c) HB