Sajjad Ahmad Khan
Despite all this time, the United States has not been able to make any friends in Afghanistan. And those who became friends with the United States were seasonal birds
It would be better to start from October 7, 2001 when the United States invaded Afghanistan to avenge the September 11 terrorist attack. If we take a look at the last 20 years of Afghanistan’s history, we see nothing but bloodshed, poignant ebony smoke of gun powder and mutilated corpses. We hear the horrible sounds of explosions and bawling of the wounded people.
The 9/11 attacks marked the beginning of a fierce battle on Afghan soil. A few months ago, the situation in Afghanistan underwent a dramatic transformation, when all the foreign troops announced their withdrawal; and then one night, all of a sudden, they ran away in silence. The foreign troops had just packed up and the Taliban began to appear in the cities. Soon Kabul was under Taliban control. The Taliban easily conquered Kabul. From nowhere, no one resisted. Just smooth sailing. It was as if the Afghan army was waiting for the US troops to leave so that they could quietly welcome the Taliban. At that time, it seemed that the United States had wasted 20 years in Afghanistan. Despite all this time, the United States has not been able to make any friends in Afghanistan. And those who became friends with the United States were seasonal birds. Today the whole world is seeing that Kabul is under the control of Taliban. Over 20 years, the US military has spent more than 83 billion on the Afghan army and incurred approximately more than 11 trillion losses. The United States left behind 300,000 trained soldiers who fell like ninepins in front of 75,000 self-trained afghan fighters.
It is a fact that the Afghan government has failed to win the hearts of the people. This is evident from the rapid success of the Taliban in the cities. No resistance on the part of Afghan nation is reflective of the fact that the poor masses of Afghanistan were unhappy with Ashraf Ghani’s government. There may be several reasons for public dislike, but perhaps the main reasons were rampant corruption in the institutions, galloping inflation and poor governance.
The Afghan president in double quick time fled from Kabul without telling anyone. The Afghan president did not even think about what would happen to those who elected him. But maybe he was worried only about saving his life. He left behind a government that is not recognized by the international community.
Talks between the United States and the Taliban began with the hope that peace could be restored on Afghan’s soil. But all efforts ended in zilch. According to the pro-afghan government, the main reason of the fiasco was that the Afghan government was not part of the dialogue. The Taliban have openly stated that they did not recognize the Afghan government, terming it puppet government of the United States.
The main question that arises here is why the Western powers were defeated even after 20 years. The world’s most advanced weapons were used on the territory of Afghanistan, but despite it America and its allies had to fall from grace and backslide.
The answer can be found in just one line that military power alone can never guarantee success. Hearts have to be won for ultimate success. The United States may have showered dollars on Afghanistan but failed to put Afghanistan on the path to real development. You can reckon this from the fact that even today people come from Afghanistan to Pakistan for a very minor surgery and to avail health facilities.
The most humiliating defeat in US history took place in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, the United States misread the ground realities and overpassed the Afghanistan’s enlightened values. The United States should have known that the social values of Afghans are really puissant and unfathomable in the Afghan society. Repelling the aggressor is of supreme value in the chain of Afghanistan’s social values. It is not only difficult but rather impossible to defeat a nation that is ready to die for its freedom at any moment. There have been many comments on the defeat of the United States. But so far no commentator has been able to provide a syllogistic and well-founded answer. It seems that everyone is looking at the Afghan retreat from one’s own eye view and perspective.
The key question, in my humble opinion, is why the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago. After an objective analysis of this question, we might be able to play by play the American defeat in Afghanistan. No one can say for sure whether the US target in Afghanistan was al Qaeda or if it was to protect the US from further attacks like 9/11. If we assume that the intendment of the invasion of Afghanistan was to protect the United States from further terrorist attacks like that of 9/11, then the mission of Afghanistan was a 20-year success. But if the purpose was to eliminate the Taliban, then the United States has badly come to naught.
The latest is that America has played below the belt. When the United States began to see its defeat, it blocked Afghanistan to access its assets. The President John Biden swallowed a great chunk of Afghan central bank reserves. Mark my words such act of injustice will have horrendous consequences. The US also sought to wreak havoc on the economy by imposing restrictions on the functioning of financial institutions, as well as stopping international institutions and donor organizations to help the poor people of Afghanistan. Today the Afghan people are on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis and in need of bulk of humanitarian aid. What to say of America, no member of the 57-member OIC has recognized the Taliban government or has ensured a comprehensive developmental program for the war torn Afghanistan.
