Ri Song Gun, a researcher at the Institute of International Studies of the DPRK, issued the following commentary:

The Afghan war triggered off by the US as a prelude to "anti-terrorism war" in 2001, the first war in the 21st century, has ended with the US troops scurrying home in disarray after 20 years.

The US has had a heavy toll of some 2 600 deaths and over 20 000 wounded after its total input of over 800 000 troops and more than US$ 2 trillion into the war.

The "longest war in American history" spawned increasing acts of terrorism, escalating religious conflicts, widespread refugee crisis, regional instability and other horrendous disasters, much less helping it achieve its goal of "eradication of terrorism" and "establishment of democracy" in Afghanistan.

The number of terrorist groups, which was only less than ten early in the war, has now risen to over 20, and reckless military operations have taken the lives of more than 100 000 peaceable civilians and produced refugees numbering over 10 million.

The catastrophic situation in Afghanistan plunged the US into the abyss of war, leaving it with no other choice but to dare an "emergency exit" to stop the excessive consumption of its resources and the "bleeding" of its economy.

The US troops' shameful act of fleeing Afghanistan with no heed to its much-touted rhetoric of "spread of liberal democracy" and the responsibility for the "restoration of a ruined country" is a self-confession of its failed policy towards Afghanistan.

This has brought to light the status quo of the "only superpower" that is now on the decline with no qualifications for international police.

Notably, Taliban, which the US forces said they had "annihilated" just two months after the start of the war, has towered as an imposing force powerful enough to seize power and pressurize the US troops' withdrawal after 20 years, a meaningful sign signifying the US defeat and the collapse of its predominant position.

The Afghan incident has shattered the US fiction and crumbled the master-servant relationship between the US and capitalist countries.

The US selfish and perfidious acts of unhesitatingly deserting the Kabul regime that it has looked after for decades and of withdrawing without any notice to NATO allies with whom it had engaged in the "bloody war" have amplified the mistrust in and frustration of its allies and satellite nations at the US security commitment.

These countries have realized that their "most important ally" is not so strong and cooperative as they have thought and expected it to be, and they are racking their brains to draw up again their own strategies for security and existence.

The EU now discusses the issue of forming about 5 000-strong rapid reaction force, claiming that the developments in Afghanistan must be a turning point for boosting Europe's strategic independence and that it has to possess capabilities to defend its interests.

Major Western media now churn out comments that "the Western liberal order has been defeated, the US downfall has reached a zenith, the US is withdrawing in actuality though it says it has returned, and the Atlantic alliance will grow weaker in the future".

It is the mentality of the US allies and partners to form an independent pole rather than following the waning US.

The collective security system touted by the US is nothing but a tool for meeting its own interests and the blind pursuance of the US will only bring disgrace and destruction. This is a lesson from the Afghan crisis.

After all, this development has become a critical time in speeding up the self-destruction of the unipolar domination structure and the old international order created by the US after the Second World War.

No country and nation in the world wants to live under others' pressure and domination and it is the independent right and common aspiration of all countries and nations to build up their own strength and develop their own way.

The US domination system restricting independent development of other countries and nations and enforcing the Yankee-style view on value and liberal orders on them has been further endangered by the advance of newly emerging powers and the struggle of the people of various countries to champion their cultures, traditions and development ways.

Imperialism with aggression, interference, avarice and plunder by its nature is the refuse of history.

It is the law of historical development that imperialism wanes and mankind heads towards socialism, and history advances by the struggle of the people standing for independence and justice in the 21st century, as it did in the 20th century.

The collapse of the imperialist domination system is the inevitability of history.

KCNA