US War Chief: Washington’s Afghanistan Plans Were Unrealistic

DID Press: Pete Hegseth, US secretary of War, said that Washington’s efforts to rebuild Afghanistan and transform it into a Western-style democracy were unrealistic from the outset.

Reflecting on the experience of the war in Afghanistan, Hegseth said the United States had overestimated its ability to reshape Afghan society, including attempts to establish institutions and security forces modeled on Western systems.

He described the strategy as a form of “excessive optimism,” arguing that the plan to fundamentally change Afghanistan’s social and political structures was unlikely to succeed under the country’s unique historical and cultural conditions.

His remarks come amid continued debate in the United States over the two-decade war in Afghanistan and the broader lessons for future American foreign policy.