Egyptian-American Political Analyst Magdi Khalil: America Thought It Could Bring Democracy, Human Dignity, Human Rights To 'Extremist Islamic Wasteland' Of Afghanistan – This Was Unrealistic

Egyptian-American political analyst Magdi Khalil said that America was right to enter Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but it stayed on for unrealistic and naïve missions of nation-building. He made these remarks in an interview that aired on Russia Today TV (Russia) on August 17, 2021. Khalil said explained that George W. Bush, the U.S. President at the time, naively thought he could bring democracy, human dignity, and human rights to Afghanistan, but he did not know that this is "impossible." He further said that Afghanistan is an "extremist Islamic wasteland" and it is not a candidate for nation-building like Japan, Germany, or South-Korea. Khalil added explained that this is because "these Islamic dumps" breed poverty, backwardness, corruption, and all kinds of religious extremism.

Magdi Khalil: "In 2003, America declared the end of its major military operations concerning Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. So why did it stay [in Afghanistan]? Because of the American naïve perceptions manifested by Georges W. Bush, that America can bring democracy, human dignity, and human rights into this extremist Islamic wasteland. He did not realize that this is impossible for these countries, for these Islamic wastelands, to have democracy, dignity, or human rights. Therefore, this project was bound to fail.

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"There was no reason for expanding the goals [of the mission in Afghanistan], besides the naïve concept of nation-building. Afghanistan is not a country like Japan, Germany, or South Korea, to build a nation in. These Islamic wastelands breed poverty, backwardness, corruption, and all kinds of religious extremism. Therefore, America was not... America was right to go to Afghanistan, but it prolonged its stay there due to unrealistic reasons."