6. U.S. unilateralism has been forced to end

The United States has put forward a concept of global reach militarily, that is, to form and build a military with global reach capabilities, which may also be a deterrent to the whole world. However, in fact, it has not been achieved, and what restricts the United States is mainly at the level of national strength. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan caused major depletion of the United States' national strength. One of the key factors in Obama's election was the promise to voters to withdraw troops from Iraq.

From 2003 to the end of 2008, the U.S. war in Iraq cost more than $800 billion. Two American scholars have co-authored a book called "The Trillion-Dollar War," one of which is a Nobel laureate in economics. The $3 trillion war refers to the war in Iraq. The two scholars said that by the end of 2008, the United States had spent more than $800 billion on direct wars, and indirect costs included a drag on the national economy, including follow-up compensation for the casualties -- in 2008, the United States killed more than 4,000 soldiers and wounded more than 50,000 on the battlefield in Iraq. From these aspects, incomplete statistics show that the war in Iraq cost the United States at least $3 trillion.

The cost is extremely high. The U.S. national strength has suffered enormously. So Obama came to power and promised to reduce the Iraqi military presence and withdraw from the main theater of operations within 16 months. But he has another promise: to increase his investment in the Afghan battlefield.

Previously, the United States and other NATO countries had a division of labor, the United States was mainly responsible for the Iraq war, and then the other NATO countries, Germany, Britain, France, and Italy were mainly responsible for the Afghanistan battlefield. But there has been chaos on the battlefield in Afghanistan, the situation has deteriorated sharply, Taliban militant attacks are becoming more frequent, and more than three-fifths of Afghanistan's territory is held by the Taliban. After the United States withdraws from Iraq, it is bound to increase its investment in the battlefield in Afghanistan.

Therefore, the consumption of US strategic capabilities in the Middle East is not a matter of moment. The increase in troops in Afghanistan has actually added a new point of attrition for the United States, and the containment of these things has led to the limited nature of the United States' ability to operate in the world.

The withdrawal of the United States from Iraq actually symbolizes the end of American unilateralism. Although unilateralism goes beyond military significance and is mainly an international political interest, unilateralism has a very great impact on the international military, and this impact is that no matter what country opposes, as long as the United States recognizes it, it must fight. This was the case with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is conceivable that if the Iraq war goes very smoothly and the United States continues to pursue its unilateralism around the world, it will fight whoever it wants, and it will not be bound by any international and regional laws at all. Just like former President George W. Bush's speech to the U.S. Congress after 9/11, he said that any region, any country, must now have a choice to either stand with the United States or stand with terrorists. This is the unprecedented aggressiveness of the international political forces, and you all over the world now have to choose a team, either with the United States or with the terrorists, and there is no third choice. This tone is too domineering.

Because of the predicament that the United States has encountered in Iraq, many Americans, including the people and political leaders, have shifted the blame to Bush Jr. alone, saying that Bush Jr. alone caused the trouble, and that it was Bush Jr.'s unilateralism that led to the disaster for the United States. However, many people forget that when the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were passed in Congress, there were zero votes against them, and everyone supported them.

Fortunately, in 2009, when unilateralism ebbed around the world, US troops gradually withdrew from Iraq, leaving Iraq's defense in the hands of the local Iraqi government. Of course, this is not a rational return or a benign return, but a helplessness in the face of the decline of American power, the United States has faced two wars and a financial crisis - the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the American financial crisis that began with the collapse of Lehman in September 2008, which has caused serious losses on the national strength of the United States.

Abandoning unilateralism, completing strategic retrenchment, and maintaining US hegemony in the world are the common aspirations of any US president, black or white. So, after much hesitation, Obama finally made the decision to withdraw troops from Iraq and increase troops in Afghanistan. When he was accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, he made a speech in Oslo, in which he made several points very clearly: First, he talked about the issue of whether or not to talk about rules, like terrorism without rules, it is necessary to use force; The second is the issue of human rights, because human rights issues require intervention in so-called tyranny.

From this speech, it can be seen that the United States has not changed its pursuit of maintaining world hegemony and maintaining the ability to use force globally in the future, even when Oba's President Ma came to power. Taking the initiative to attack and actively selecting targets will not change.