-- The hasty withdrawal is widely regarded as a defeat for the United States, both in Afghanistan and throughout the region.
-- The U.S. mission in Afghanistan asserted it was to annihilate terrorists, bring about peace and help Afghans establish a peaceful and prosperous society, but fighting has been continuing and Afghans are still suffering.
-- The most conservative estimates by local and international rights groups suggest that close to 47,600 civilians have been killed and more than double that number injured in Afghanistan during the 20 years of war.
by Abdul Haleem
BAGRAM, Afghanistan, July 11 -- Still surrounded by concrete walls and razor wire, the Bagram Airfield, also known as Bagram Airbase, had been home to the U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the past 20 years.
The airbase was handed over to the Afghan forces early this month.
"Nothing important has left at the airbase," Gen. Mir Assadullah Kohistani, now commander of the airbase, told Xinhua. "The U.S. forces had destroyed all the facilities and military equipment that the Afghan forces could not use or their shifting to America was expensive."
Piles of trash heaped up at the airbase are to be sold to local dealers, said Gul Mohammad, a scrap dealer in Bagram.
But the real mess the U.S. troops have left behind in the country is triggering concern across the world.