26 Aug 2021 – The Western media is full of news about people fleeing Kabul in the wake of the Taliban victory. These visuals serve to divert attention from another reality: the humiliating defeat suffered by the US and its allies after a 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. It was an occupation that devoured US 2.26 trillion dollars. At its height it employed 775,000 US service personnel. The US and its NATO allies had at their command some of the world’s most lethal and sophisticated weapons.