Articles by Julio M. Shiling

China Will Benefit from U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Former CIA Contractor.

El American had the opportunity to interview, again, former contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Ron Aledo. The service as a United States Army veteran stationed in Afghanistan, as well as a senior intelligence advisor to the Afghan National Police, places him in an optimal position to render a close, firsthand appreciation of the impact that the United States troops’ withdrawal from that country will have.

When asked if, in his professional opinion, the decision to, in fact, leave the Afghanistan government to its own fate is a mistake, Aledo in a quick and unhesitant fashion answered in the affirmative. While his answer draws upon various focal points of analysis, geopolitical considerations weigh heavily on the conclusion that it is not in the best interest of America, nor of the free world, to completely vacate Afghanistan.

 

Regional fundamental differences weigh heavily on the interviewee’s analysis. “When you head south”, Aledo says, “you are going back 500 years in time”. The southern, drug-producing region is, per the army veteran, “ungovernable”. Kabul the capital, however, is a different universe. Here it is in the decisive interest of America and the freedom coalition to remain, thus maintaining a presence and safeguarding the Afghan government. Despite all its defects, is much better than anything the Taliban reign of terror will produce.

When asked who will fill the void, Aledo points to the Taliban’s main supporter, Pakistan and by default China, since Islamabad is a de facto Beijing dependency. In other words, China will be the main hegemonic power that will gain a foothold in the landlocked kingdom of Afghanistan with the exit of American soldiers. The profitable poppy drug trade will likely flourish in greater proportions, and Afghanistan’s natural resources will, undoubtedly, be exploited by China’s neo-colonialist pursuits.

Pakistani security officials patrol the Pakistani side of the Pakistani-Afghan border after reopening days after Taliban took control of the Afghan side of the border, at Chaman, Afghanistan, 18 July 2021. (EFE)

Having developed many relationships with the Afghan National Police and other sectors of the nation’s government and intelligence agencies, Aledo has been hard at work trying to secure refugee asylum visas for those who collaborated with the United States. The former CIA and DIA contractor was quick to point out that no matter how generous the asylum visa program is, it will not secure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans that embraced western culture, including its staple political system, democracy, equality under the law, public education for women, and many other traits of modernity. Any remote connection with the Afghan regime that was developed because of the overthrow of the totalitarian Taliban dictatorship in 2001, is a death sentence to any citizen.

The parallels between the fall of South Vietnam and the imminent collapse of the Afghan government are real. Aledo concurs that the United States will regret this decision. Alternate routes, such as the maintenance of a force to protect the capital, which is the life of the country, appears to have been a plausible alternative. Unfortunately, this was not considered.

Aledo’s testimony warrants serious pondering since he was part of the “boots on the ground” that worked to make Afghanistan a safer place to live, as well as the annihilation of an Islamic terror logistics base, from which to wage jihad on free societies.

This interview by El American is an attempt to offer a broader understanding of the repercussions of the American troop’s withdrawal from that country.

©The Cuban American Voice. Originally published in @El American. All rights reserved.

• Keywords:
• Ron Aledo Interview
• CIA
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• DIA
• China Will Benefit
• Withdrawal from Afghanistan
• American