CAIRO - The United States was destined to fail in its twin objectives of withdrawing from Afghanistan and leaving behind a stable, law-based society, after its misguided efforts in the past 20 years, read a recent article published in the Gulf Times.

The United States invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago. Now, with more than 100,000 lives lost and some $2 trillion spent, all America has to show are this month's scenes of a scramble out of the country, said the article titled "Why nation-building failed in Afghanistan" in the Qatari English newspaper on Tuesday.

The article pointed out that while poor planning and a lack of accurate intelligence certainly contributed to the disaster, the problem has in fact been 20 years in the making.

"The assumption is that if you can establish overwhelming military dominance over a territory and subdue all other sources of power, you can then impose your will. Yet in most places, this theory is only half right, at best; and in Afghanistan, it was dead wrong," said the article.