| Welcome to Global Village Space

Friday, March 15, 2024

The return of Taliban after two decades

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan talks about the return of the Taliban after 20 years and how the US saw defeat in a war that they lost way before the withdrawal was announced. He further talks about what can we expect from the upcoming Taliban rule and how they will advance their interests in the international community.

The US attacked Afghanistan, under the lame excuse of staged drama “9/11” twenty years ago and pushed the Taliban out. Although no concrete evidence of Afghan involvement in the “9/!!” incident was provided yet. But, Afghanistan was destroyed completely. Millions of people were killed, injured, and made homeless. Infrastructure was damaged, the economy destroyed, life was made uneasy for Afghans. The US spent trillions of dollars and yet have to face “Saigon” fate.

Taliban is back in Kabul, and the city is very much normal. People on the ground are reporting that shops are opened, bakeries are working, traffic on the roads is, as usual, ATMs are functioning, Mobile and internet services are in the routine. Women are going to work and girls are going to school as usual. Only Ashraf Ghani has fled out of the country and the Taliban has taken over the presidential palace.

Read more: A Timeline of key events in Afghanistan since 2001

US’s shameful defeat

President Joe Biden linked the withdrawal with “9/11” to mark the day as a memorial, but, faced failure and may mark American defeat once again. The US is planning to send more troops, which aimed to spoil Afghan peace and sabotage the stability in Afghanistan.

After the staged drama “9/11” incident, American and allied forces began an invasion of Afghanistan called Operation Enduring Freedom, to push the Taliban from Afghanistan.

On Dec. 7, 2001, the Taliban lost its last major stronghold as the city of Kandahar fell. Since then, the Taliban have attempted to gain ground in Afghanistan throughout the time US forces have been there and throughout multiple US administrations.

More recently, in January 2017, the Taliban sent an open letter to then-newly elected US President Trump, calling on him to withdraw US forces from the country. Between 2017 to 2019 there were attempts at peace talks between the US and the Taliban that never finalized into an agreement.

Read more: ‘Taliban’s victory’: Ashraf Ghani claims he had to leave Afghanistan to avoid massacre

During a surprise trip to Afghanistan in November 2019 for a Thanksgiving visit with US troops, Trump announced that peace talks with the Taliban were restarting. The peace talks resumed in Doha, Qatar, in December of that year.

The US and the Taliban signed a historic agreement in February 2020, which set into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlined a series of commitments from the US and the Taliban related to troop levels, counter-terrorism, and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about “a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.”

A recap of key events 

In the month following the signing of the Trump administration’s peace deal with the Taliban, the insurgent group increased its attacks on America’s Afghan allies to higher than usual levels, according to data provided to the Pentagon’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

In August 2020, Afghanistan’s grand assembly of elders, the consultative Loya Jirga, passed a resolution calling for the release of the last batch of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for direct peace talks with the insurgent group to end nearly two decades of war. The release of the 400 prisoners was part of the agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in February.

Read more: America’s Shameful Surrender In Afghanistan – Andrew Korybko

In April 2021, President Biden deviated from the Peace deal signed under the Trump administration and announced that the US would withdraw forces from Afghanistan by September 2021. In August, just months after the US began withdrawing forces, the Biden administration sent in 5,000 troops into Afghanistan after the Taliban began gaining control in the country.

On Aug. 15, after the Taliban seized control of every major city across Afghanistan, apart from Kabul, in just two weeks, the Taliban engaged in talks with the government in the capital over who will rule the nation.

The Taliban is now in full control of the country and has seized the presidential palace in Kabul after President Ghani fled the country. Talks to form a transitional government are underway and expected to reach a deal soon.

Read more: Taliban after victory enjoy feast in the governor’s house in Afghanistan

The refined and reformed Taliban

A general amnesty has been granted to the general public and asked to give up guns and join them in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. No one was killed, no one injured, no one arrested, no single bullet fired. The Taliban entry into Kabul was so smooth that it set a new record. At least, it was smoother than the transition of presidential powers in Washington.

They have learned bitter lessons and improved. Although the Western media is over-engaged in defaming the Taliban and projecting a negative image, spreading fake news and fabricated news, the Taliban are well educated and sensible people. Some of them are educated from the reputed Universities in America and Europe. They are equipped with all sorts of modern knowledge in addition to religion. They know how to rule their country. Let the people of Afghanistan decide their fate. All external interventions must reach an end.

The international community is satisfied, most of the embassies are functioning well and decided to remain there, except few like America and its close allies. Russia has clarified to keep its embassy functioning. Taliban are in contact with many countries and are hopeful to get recognition from more than a hundred countries in the coming few days.

Read more: If Afghanistan introduces Sharia Law then Germany will not cooperate with them: FM

The UNSC has called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. It is expected that China and Russia along with all peace-loving nations will support Afghanistan. Peace in Afghanistan is a prerequisite for regional peace, security, development, and prosperity. The international community must respect the will of Afghans. The public in Afghanistan is with the Taliban and has offered zero resistance, instead welcomed them. Taliban are the real power of the power and representatives of Afghanistan. Taliban are protecting Afghan interests and will rule their country in the best possible manner.

 Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. He can be reached at  awanzamir@yahoo.com.The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.