The U.S. completed its mission on August 30, but its pulling out of Afghanistan has been a mess and its European allies are not happy with it.美国宣布已于8月30日完成阿富汗撤军任务，而整个撤军过程可谓是一团糟，欧洲盟国们对此多有不满。 America is accused of bearing the main responsibility; “America is back” has been described as a “great illusion” and it’s said to be NATO’s biggest debacle.欧洲盟友指责美国要为此负主要责任；“美国归来”被描述为一种“严重的错觉”，阿富汗被认为是北约最大的失败。 But the impact of Afghanistan on the West is not necessarily about the U.S. pulling out. Former U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated a deal with the Taliban. Joe Biden was very clear that he was getting U.S. troops out of there. It was going to happen. There was continuity in the position and the policy.但阿富汗对西方的影响不仅仅来自于美国撤军。美国前总统特朗普与塔利班谈判达成了撤军协议。拜登也非常清楚地说过他要把美国军队撤离阿富汗。撤军是一定会发生的。这一立场和政策是连贯的。 America didn't betray its words this time. It betrayed its allies’ trust in its capability. There’s an article from the POLITICO saying that Biden’s cabinet and the deputies held about three-dozen “scenario planning” meeting since April with “many more sessions” held at different agencies. None prepared the administration for what happened.美国这次没有食言，但它背叛了盟友对其能力的信任。美国《政客》杂志有一篇文章说，拜登的内阁和副手们自4月以来举行了大约30多次“情景规划”会议，并在不同机构举行了“更多会议”。但没有一次会议替拜登政府规划到了后来实际发生的场景。 The White House got it wrong. The Pentagon got it wrong. The State Department got it wrong. The intelligence community got it wrong. The United States completely missed the ball.白宫误判了。五角大楼误判了。美国国务院误判了。美国情报界误判了。美国完全搞砸了。 That is scary. 20 years, 2 trillion dollars, four presidents, hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground, not to mention the intelligence work put in, and the U.S. remains ignorant. It’s leaving Afghanistan in the same way as it went in there – having no clue about its people, its politics, its culture; guns blazing and blood flowing.这很恐怖。20年，2万亿美元，四位总统，十余万驻军，更不用说投入了多少的情报资源，而结果却是美国依然两眼一抹黑。美国撤出阿富汗时的状态和当初进入那里的时候并无二致：对当地民众、政治、文化一无所知；枪炮轰鸣，血流成河。 “America First,” “America is back,” whatever the slogan is, it’s just the same rash, reckless and unreliable United States.“美国优先”，“美国归来”，不管口号是什么，美国还是那个轻率、鲁莽、不可靠的美国。 This did-we-feel-we-had-to-follow-the-U.S. question, from a former UK PM who believed that a Biden administration “will lead the world into a brighter future,” tells everything. 这个“我们是否觉得必须跟着美国走”的问题，来自一位曾相信拜登政府“将带领世界走向更美好的未来”的英国前首相之口，说明了一切。 We thought Donald Trump was unique in breaking America’s promises or not being up to the job. Now, I’m not so sure. Twenty years in the Middle East all have the same results. America came in saying that it’d bring democracy and prosperity. Then woosh, it’s out when it wants to get out, never mind whether it’s leaving a boulevard or broken bricks behind. 我们曾认为特朗普这个特例导致美国违背承诺或无法胜任领导之位。现在，我不那么确定了。美国在中东的20年都是相同的结果。美国进军时说会为当地带来民主和繁荣。结果呢，美国想撤出的时候就撤了，从来不考虑留在身后的是一条林荫大道还是一片断壁残垣。 Maybe it never had any intention to carry out its promises or it just isn’t capable of doing so. Either way, if America is like this, how could anyone have confidence in it? How could any promise about its goals or strategies in, let’s say Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, be genuine? How can other countries trust the United States when it promises that it will look after them? How can they trust that the U.S. wouldn’t just dump them when things got hard?也许美国从来没有想过要履行自己的承诺，又或者它根本没有能力做到言出必行。无论怎样，如果美国是这样的美国，别人还怎么相信它？怎么能保证美国在伊拉克、叙利亚、乌克兰等国的目标或战略承诺是可靠的？当美国承诺会照顾某些国家时，那些国家如何能信？它们如何能相信美国不会在面临困局时抛弃它们？ If there’s no trust, America can’t lead. And, looking at its record, it might be in the best interest for everyone that it doesn’t.如果无法获取信任，美国就无法领导其他国家。但从美国的历史记录来看，美国不去做什么领导者可能是对所有人最有利的。