US Decides to Stay in Afghanistan in Response to Russia's Success in Syria?

US President Barack Obama has broken his promise to end the US' 14-year military campaign in Afghanistan and withdraw most US troops from the Central Asian country: according to his recent announcement Washington will keep 10,000 American servicemen in Afghanistan through 2016, and some 5,500 through 2017.

"President Obama's announcement that the US is going to be staying in Afghanistan is obviously a response to changing developments on the ground, but it is also a response to some of the geopolitical developments that we've seen in recent months," Eric Draitser said in an interview to Press TV.

"On the one hand it is interesting that this statement comes out now in the wake of the Kunduz [Afghanistan] war crime committed by the United States by bombing the hospital [and Doctors without borders] which is undoubtedly and unmistakably a war crime the US should be investigated for and the responsible parties prosecuted for. So, in contrast to that or set against the background of that the US then comes out and says they will be staying in Afghanistan," the geopolitical analyst underscored.

There are a number of reasons why Washington decided to stay in Afghanistan. Of course, the Afghani government is currently unable to handle the terrorism problem in the country. The Taliban is gaining ground prompting security concerns among Afghani and US policy-makers.

But that is not all. Eric Draitser pointed to the fact that Washington's decision to keep its troops in the Central Asian country coincided with Russia's successful military advance against terrorists in Syria.

"Especially, number one is a response to Russia's assertiveness in Syria. The United States just does not want to be seen leaving Central Asia, taking its military out of Afghanistan at precisely the moment that Russia moves its military into the Middle East," the analyst underscored.

"It would essentially be from the perceptive of the strategic planners in Washington ceding possible control of Afghanistan to the non-Western alliance, specifically Russia, and especially China," he added, referring old hawk Zbigniew Brzezinski's concept stating that Central Asia was critical for the US hegemony and the future of US hegemony.

Washington fears that Afghanistan will fall into the hands of a non-Western alliance, for instance, that it would be incorporated and integrated into the China-led New Silk Road project, as well as the China-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) or BRICS, the analyst noted.

Indeed, the Sino-Afghani diplomatic rapprochement makes the White House decision-makers' blood run cold.

At the same time, reportedly, on October 18 Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah told journalists that the Afghan government would welcome Russia's potential assistance in eradicating terrorists.

And that obviously means that the United States is swiftly losing its hegemonic positions in the Middle East, Central Asia and beyond.