A decorated former US Navy SEAL who was part of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden reckons America is slipping from its top dog status as the most feared country in the world.
Rob O’Neill, who was decorated 52 times during his naval career, credits America's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan as a major sign of weakness to superpowers like China, Russia, and the Taliban.
"They're making a mockery of us on so many levels because we're fighting ourselves about what pronouns to use," he told the Daily Mail.
He added: "They're fighting for world dominance. They're fighting for their causes and they're realising that we're slowly just slipping away from legitimacy."
The Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks in the US.
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After 20 years of attempting to stabilise the government and form a democracy in the Middle Eastern nation, US troops announced they would pull out of Afghanistan in November 2020.
On August 15, 2021, the Afghan government collapsed as the Taliban swept in once again and seized the capital, Kabul.
On August 26, 13 US service members and at least 170 Afghans were killed in an attack by ISIS at a checkpoint outside the Kabul airport, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Four days later, the last of America's troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan.
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One year after the bungled US withdrawal, two-time Silver Star winner O’Neill has been left asking what all that time in the Middle East was even for.
"It's bad over there. The Taliban’s as brutal as they ever were," he told the Daily Mail.
"[The Taliban] continue to say that Afghanistan is the 'graveyard of empires', and they could beat anybody."
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When America withdrew from Afghanistan, it joined the likes of Britain and the Soviet Union on the list of nations that have failed to tame and effectively govern the Middle Eastern nation.
"The problem is the coalition refused to win a war because we are too politically correct. We're too worried about hurting feelings," he said, as per the Daily Mail.
"We have the ability to crush anybody. We still do. But we don't have the political will. And we have a bunch of people with the wrong agendas in charge."
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O'Neill points the finger at those on Capitol Hill as the cause for the US's slipping perception in the eyes of potential enemies abroad.
"I've met Joe Biden and personally like him. But it's not the person who's in the White House for four or eight years that's the problem," he said, as per the Daily Mail.
"It's the person that's been on Capitol Hill for 45 years that's the problem."
He added: "Hopefully my grandchildren see a change."
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Rob O'Neill has launched a new podcast called The Operator to discuss his time in the armed forces and today's military.
Rachel Lang