The US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil not only devastated the two Muslim-majority countries but also dented the prestige of the world’s biggest military power.
Despite the bitter experiences in the recent past – that includes the hasty and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and signing the ill-conceived deal with the Iraqi government to end the American combat mission – the Biden administration has steadfastly backed Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and also approved the invasion of Lebanon, allowing Tel Aviv to escalate tensions across the Middle East, according to recent reports.
Many analysts blamed the ill-planned US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan on neoconservative political circles in Washington, which aimed to wreak havoc across the Eurasian region to redesign the Middle East.
While neoconservatism clearly failed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is interesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu currently employs a similar neocon-like language, promising to create a “New Middle East” out of the war on Palestine, Lebanon and possibly other countries in the region.