- The Taliban will use the same methods as helped them in Doha
By: Muhammad Abbas
The 18-year-long war on Afghan soil is ending after the signing of a historic peace-deal between the USA and the Taliban in the Qatari capital of Doha on February 29, which entails the following main points; first, Afghan soil would not be used against the USA or its allies by any international terrorist groups or individuals; second, the USA and the members of its supporting coalition will withdraw all their troops within 14 months on the condition of the Taliban fulfilling the promises they made in the agreement; third, the Taliban and the Afghan government will negotiate and enter into an intra-Afghan dialogue to settle all its disputes and to fix its political future; and fourth, a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire. The development came after a week of a commitment to a reduction in violence by both forces of the USA and its coalition partners and of the Taliban.
A month after the 9/11 terror attack, the USA-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 by declaring a “War on Terror”, when the Taliban refused to hand over Osama-Bin-Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attack. The “War on Terror” took many precious lives of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians, Taliban fighters and Afghan soldiers, as well as about 2400 American soldiers. Apart from that, many innocent Afghans went to neighboring countries to take refuge after their homes and business were destroyed in the ruthless war.
Moreover, Afghanistan is populated with a number of ethnic and linguistic groups, so, is only signing an agreement enough to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan? Are the Afghan government and the Taliban able to settle all their disputes? Can they (the Afghan government and the Taliban) adopt a culture of “give and take” to bring peace to their homeland? Is there any timeline fixed for the evacuation of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries and from all over the world?
All stakeholders within and outside Afghanistan need to make serious efforts to finish this long path to peace and to stop more bloodshed in Afghanistan. The Afghan society does not afford more war as it spent four generations in search of peace and stability
However, Afghan society is deeply rooted in folk culture like; “honor and respect”, and a desire to live by their own “traditions and standards” which are mostly unknown to those Afghans who have been living for many years in other parts of the world. Similarly, those who never left their soil are deeply rooted in the tradition of revenge, where the people wash blood with blood. When they will all come together there would be a huge social change within the Afghanistan, and it will be daunting too for both parties to adjust with each other as an entire generation after the start of the “War on Terror” has grown up with a totally different mentality.
Contrary to that, as mentioned before, Afghan society is deeply rooted in the tradition of revenge, so those who have lost their loved ones, and those whose houses had been destroyed in the “War on Terror” and suffered from Taliban brutalities before the US invasion. So how would they (the sufferers) be dealt with? Why neither the USA nor the Taliban have raised concerns about the people who have suffered due to this situation?
Similarly, for some the peace agreement is a victory for the USA, but for many it is a victory of the Taliban. Who won this bloody war? History will decide. But, by signing a deal justice did not prevail, those innocent civilians who lost their lives in the name of Islam, peace or whatever, their murderers are still alive, but the souls of the killed ones are roaming the streets, city to city, country to country asking “what was our fault?” They both (the USA and the Taliban) have hugged each other and shook hands, but who will provide justice to them?
Furthermore, the September 28 Afghan presidential election, according to Independent Election Commission’s result, had won by Ashraf Ghani, which had later rejected by Afghan ex-chief executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah who was an opposing candidate. Such a situation within the political horizon of Afghanistan put the war-torn country into danger once again. Before the withdrawal of all-US troops from Afghanistan, if the Taliban will not meet its obligations under the deal, the USA will not “hesitate” to “nullify” as US Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said in Kabul. But later John Bolton (ex- National Security Adviser) in a tweet called the deal an “unacceptable risk” to the US civilian population and he marked it as a “wrong signal” to ISIS and Al-Qaeda terrorists, and to all the USA’s enemies. All the stakeholders within Afghanistan need to fully meet their obligations under the deal and bring peace to the country, which is hungering for peace.
Later on, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rejected the condition of releasing 5000 prisoners under the deal, and he remarked it was a sovereign state’s decision. Responding to the Afghan president’s decision, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said “there will be no intra-Afghan talks, if our prisoners do not get released.” The Taliban ordered its militants to “resume” attacks against Afghan soldiers and police forces until an Islamic system of the government was restored.
Besides that, the Taliban will try to put pressure as much as they can do to force the Afghan government to accept their conditions on the negotiation table, the same tactic they applied in the Doha-talks with the USA.
Muhammad Abbas is a freelance columnist
