The U.S. Central Command announced Monday that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was complete, ending 20 years of U.S.-led occupation. However, this doesn't mean an end to the United States' responsibility in the war-torn country.

The invasion of Afghanistan under the banner of "counterterrorism" has seen many war crimes committed against its people by troops from both the U.S. and its allies, and has been a human rights disaster. 

Under the pretext of democracy and human rights, the U.S. attempted to impose its own ideology and vision of government in Afghanistan which was completely unsuited to the country's conditions. Its interference in the domestic affairs of other countries has only undermined the peace and stability of other countries and regions. 

The catastrophe in Afghanistan is the inevitable outcome of the long-term exertion of hegemony and power politics by the U.S. in the world.

The United States, alongside the power of its alliance system, is what is traditionally known as the "hegemon." It keeps distorting and violating international law and norms, as well as seeking to impose arbitrary, unilateral sanctions or engaging in military intervention against other countries. 

The U.S. and its allies of course frequently call out other nations in the name of "human rights" and likewise advocate "justice" for such. If any other country had committed the same "events" in Afghanistan, it would have been universally decried as an unjust invasion and a series of atrocities. 

This shows how the U.S. always seeks to hold a monopoly not just over global discourse, but also a monopoly owing to its hegemonic status. 

The U.S. and its allies should be held to account for what they have done in Afghanistan. The 20-year conflict has achieved precisely nothing, led to a loss of American lives as well as those of civilians and innocent people, and ultimately promulgated instability and conflict in the country. Is there no thought that perhaps war was never the answer in the first place? Yet the mainstream media and the U.S. continually call other countries the "aggressors" – but this is a distortion of reality. America has long been a hegemonic state imposing war and destruction throughout the world. It should be brought to justice not only for the situation in Afghanistan, but everywhere else before it, including Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and many more.

The United States should stop practicing hegemony and power politics in the world, which only lead to greater division, chaos and tragedy, rather than peace and stability. 

Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain and the U.S. For more information please visit: 

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/TomFowdy.htm

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