The consequences of the 9/11 attack were clear. The US would go on to wage a “War against Terror” and end up in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Al-Qadea was confronted, the Taliban ousted and Osama was put on the run. The world was split between “Us and Them “and the US infantry looked more intent than ever before. Bin Laden ultimately was killed in Pakistan, the faithless ally of the US and the supposed revenge was had. But now, 2 decades later, a lot of analysts including Western experts are also asking if the West won in full or did Osama Bin Laden inflict a wound from which it has not recovered. Read: ‘Don’t focus on hate’: World marks 20th anniversary of 9/11 9/11 forced the West into unwinnable wars both in Afghanistan and later in Iraq and Syria. As events show, both were disasters for them. The recent departure of the US from Afg in a shambolic way is a grim symbol of the fall since its peak in 2001. The invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction that could cause a second 9/11 is probably an even worse departure waiting to happen. And in both Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO forces travelled with their US fellows into a hole in which all were stuck. Never has the West looked more inept. An expiring power   The West was weakening from much earlier though, as the financial crisis of 2008 showed. Its economy had become linked to the deregulation of the 1980s and the mortgage boom of the 1990s. However, its brand was at its shiniest in 2001, even if the product was edging towards an expiry date. The Berlin Wall and Russian socialism had both died and the West was chirping loudly. But the world had changed neither democracy nor regime changes could no longer be ordered off the menu. The West got involved in war after war and chased a phantom called “ Islamic” terrorism which the West including Russia didn’t see was a reaction to its own policies and wars. At least 6,000 British and American servicemen, as well as perhaps 200,000 Afghans and a similar number of Iraqis have died in the most futile wars on earth. The consequence is that “democracy” is no longer available on the shelf and the White Knight image that the West sold of itself is today a figure of scorn, nothing more  or less.   The lies of the US to attack Iraq, the prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib have been stamped deeply into the global memory.   Read: From 9/11′s ashes, a new world took shape. It did not last. After all the killing and wars the Taliban is back, the US wants to depart from Iraq knowing it may mean a takeover by the IS,  Iran suffers due to sanctions but is a major player in the Middle East and US leadership is not visible anywhere. China’s rise was perhaps inevitable but it took every advantage and every mistake the West did. Today, it has become the “strongest” power without waging any wars and is near-about the Taliban’s best friend.  The West is a shadow of what it was 20 years ago. It just isn’t smart enough to cope with the new world. And sadly for the West many of the causes can be traced to the events of 9/11. That was a hit which Al-Qaeda certainly intended, and in that they succeeded. 

The Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan by US-led forces in 2001, but the group has been on the offensive in recent months and is now on the brink of seizing power again. As the US prepared to complete its withdrawal by 11 September, after two decades of war, the militants took major cities and have now reached the outskirts of the capital Kabul. The group entered direct talks with the US back in 2018, and in February 2020 the two sides struck a peace deal in Doha that committed the US to withdrawal and the Taliban to preventing attacks on US forces. Other promises included not allowing al-Qaeda or other militants to operate in areas it controlled and proceeding with national peace talks. Read:Biden team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan But in the year that followed, the Taliban continued to target Afghan security forces and civilians, and advanced rapidly across the country. Rise to power The Taliban, or "students" in the Pashto language, emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. It is believed that the predominantly Pashtun movement first appeared in religious seminaries - mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia - which preached a hardline form of Sunni Islam. The promise made by the Taliban - in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan - was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.

NATO has helped provide security in Afghanistan for almost two decades but the government and armed forces in the conflict-torn country are strong enough to stand on their own feet without international troops to back them, the head of the military organization said Thursday. NATO took charge of security efforts in Afghanistan in 2003, two years after a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban for harboring former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Fewer than 9,000 troops remain, including up to 3,500 US personnel, and they are scheduled to leave by Sept. 11 at the latest. “I think that the Afghans, they also realize that we have been there now for 20 years and we have invested heavily in blood and treasure in Afghanistan,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press, aboard a U.K. aircraft carrier involved in wargames off the coast of Portugal. Also read: Afghan forces demoralized, rife with corruption “Afghanistan has come a long way, both when it comes to building strong, capable security forces, but also when it comes to social and economic progress. At some stage, it has to be the Afghans that take full responsibility for peace and stability in their own country,” Stoltenberg said in an interview. But as NATO troops leave, much of the country stands as contested ground. The government in Kabul holds hold sway in towns and cities, but the Taliban dominate the countryside. Some of the heaviest fighting this year took place just this week, in Laghman province in the east. Stoltenberg said that NATO countries would continue to support Afghanistan through civilian experts who will help to advise government ministries, by funding the security forces and with support for slow-moving peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban. He said that NATO is also “looking into the possibility of providing some training out of country for the Afghan security forces, but no final decision has been taken.” U.S. military leaders are still grappling with how best to carry out President Joe Biden’s order to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September while helping Afghan forces and monitoring the threat that prompted the U.S. invasion of the country 20 years ago. Biden and Stoltenberg will meet with the other leaders of the 30-nation military alliance on June 14 to usher in a new era in trans-Atlantic ties after four tumultuous years of the former Trump administration. The other big issue will be Afghanistan, although no Afghan leaders are due to attend the Brussels summit. Also read: Afghans who helped the US now fear being left behind Asked about the impact of leaving Afghanistan without the security guarantee that has helped keep the Taliban at bay, Stoltenberg conceded that “there are risks entailed to the decision of ending NATO’s military mission in Afghanistan. We have been very transparent and clear-eyed about that.” “At the same time, to continue to stay means that we will also have to take some risks; the risk of more fighting, the risk of being forced to increase the number of troops there, and the risk of remaining with a (military) mission,” he said. Many of the international troops in Afghanistan will already have left by the time the leaders meet next month. America’s allies in Europe, plus Canada, rely on U.S. logistical and transport help to operate in Afghanistan and could only follow once Biden announced the withdrawal. Many officials have expressed concern that once the U.S. leaves, the government and its armed forces will be quickly overrun by the Taliban. Violence has steadily mounted in recent months as the drawdown gathered pace. It remains unclear what level of security might be needed, and who would provide it, to protect international embassies spread around the capital Kabul. The city’s airport, the main international gateway to Afghanistan, and the route to it must also be protected. Stoltenberg said that NATO plans to provide financial support to keep Kabul airport up and running, but — just a few months before the alliance ends its biggest, costliest and most ambitious mission ever — the details of how all this might play out remained unclear.

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday said al-Qaeda has no presence in Bangladesh as claimed in a “thoughtless remark” by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Bangladesh has strongly protested against "baseless remarks and falsification" by US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo tagging Bangladesh with terrorist group al-Qaeda.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali resigned late Tuesday just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home.