Dear America, take the bloody responsibility!
Ever since Taliban has taken over, America has been trying to absolve itself of the criminal role it has played in bringing Afghanistan and Afghans to the mess they find themselves in today. In this note, I will be making a case against America and will try and explain why America cannot, and should not, get away with its criminal mishandling of Afghanistan.
Let’s begin where it all began.
America came into Afghanistan in pursuit of bin Laden and for destroying al-Qaeda. Their mission was to go after a terrorist organization. Great! What did they actually do but? They upended Taliban government, took control of a sovereign state by force (which is illegal under international law), and then began their pursuit of al-Qaeda.
One can still somehow make a case for US invasion of Afghanistan. But what unfolded afterwards is a story of one disaster after another.
Having overthrown Taliban, America cherry-picked the anti-Taliban tribal leaders and put them in government. The classic policy of “divide and rule” that white man cannot stop using when occupying/colonizing foreign lands was in action again. By picking sides, America sowed the seeds of future wars (a glimpse of which we saw when American exit was drawing near). Remember that America was in Afghanistan for going after al-Qaeda and here it was picking sides and forming governments.
In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld, the then U.S. Secretary of Defense, declared “the end of major combat” in Afghanistan. In other words, America’s military objective had been achieved by 2003. America COULD exit Afghanistan at this point. BUT! America willfully chose to stay.
By choosing to stay, America took control of not just the future of Afghanistan but of the future of Afghans as well. 20 years later, today, when America says that it was not in Afghanistan for nation-building, the reply should be, “Didn’t you know this back in 2003? And if you did, why didn’t you get out!” In short, by choosing to stay beyond 2003, America willfully and effectively took over the reins of Afghanistan’s present and future. You do not become the manager of a department, company or a state without taking responsibility of where your decisions will take it. And, so, it is your responsibility, dear America, to own your blunders or at least not try to hide behind pretty lousy, vulgar, and convenient arguments.
Moving on, since 2003, America has spent over a trillion dollars in Afghanistan on various military, social, economic, etc. projects. How generous! Well, not really.
America knew that the government it had put in Afghanistan was corrupt to the core. By choosing to dole out billions to Afghanistan under the corrupt leaders of various governments in Kabul, America knew it was not spending money on Afghanistan’s development but in fact filling the coffers of looters and plunderers it had put in place. These governments in Kabul were sitting after the approval of America. America had all the leverage to push for more competent people in government in Afghanistan. It could have linked its aid to Afghan leaders delivering on development objectives. America did nothing! By continuing to work with these corrupt leaders, American leaders are not only criminally responsible for putting Afghan people in the hands of incompetent corrupt-to-the-core administrators but also responsible to the American taxpayers that funded the expensive and total failure of an adventure in Afghanistan.
The reality is that those trillions of dollars that America gave to Afghanistan were the fee that America paid for occupying a sovereign state, for blatantly violating international law, and for a state-sized military base on the doorstep of Middle East and Asia.
Come 2020, America suddenly decided to withdraw from Afghanistan under Trump - a decision that surprised America’s military and diplomatic corps; in fact, Jim Mattis, Trump’s Defense Secretary, resigned in protest. America signed an agreement in haste. The agreement stated that Taliban would not let Afghan soil be used for committing any terrorist act against US and its allies, and that Taliban would not allow al-Qaeda to operate inside Afghansitan. The agreement said nothing about protecting the lives of Afghan citizens or about ceasefire of endless violence that Taliban were unleashing in Afghan cities. No mention of safeguarding women or human rights was made. After the agreement was signed, America did not even follow up on it. In fact, Taliban continued to commit worst form of violence while the agreement was in place and US-Taliban talks were underway. America did not point a finger!
Above all, the truly criminal thing that America did was not making America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan contingent on Taliban’s abiding by the terms of the agreement. Instead, America gave Taliban a final date at which America would leave Afghanistan NO MATTER WHAT! That emboldened Taliban who then intensified their campaign, including violent activities. In giving Taliban free hand, America showed that it cared little about Afghans’ lives or whether or not Afghanistan descends into anarchy or total bloodbath! America also knew pretty well that today al-Qaeda is present in Afghanistan, and its leaders and jihadists routinely work with Taliban. That is where American leaders have misled American people too. If rooting out al-Qaeda was the mission, America has failed. Al-Qaeda is still there and Americans are more insecure than they were when America had invaded.
Today, America is acting all surprised at the rapid rise to power of Taliban. But America’s surprise is surprising me!
In 2018, after the famed ‘billions of dollars’ had been spent on building Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), Ashraf Ghani categorically said, “Afghanistan army would collapse in six months without US help.”1 Today, when Joe Biden says that ANDSF could defend Afghanistan against Taliban onslaught, he says that knowing the following facts: (1) absenteeism: about 35% of the force did not reenlist each year, (2) widespread illiteracy among Afghan security forces; (3) casualty rates that U.S. commanders called “unsustainable,” including over 6,700 combat deaths in 2016 (up from 5,500 the previous year), (4) inconsistent leadership that sometimes caused Afghan commanders to overestimate insurgent strength or to panic at the first sign of insurgent assault; and (5) a deficit of logistical capabilities, such as airlift, medical evacuation, resupply, and other associated functions. Many units also suffered from a shortfall in weaponry, spare parts, and fuel.2 In short, Obama, Trump, Biden, all knew that Taliban’s rise would be rapid and their actions pretty deadly. Why pretend to be surprised now?
Sure, America was not there to stay in Afghanistan forever. But the way it has exited was also not the way to leave. If nothing else, America should have stayed in Afghanistan until it had forced Taliban to participate in a nationwide elections in the country. Why elections? Because elections could have at least made it absolutely clear to the people of Afghanistan and of neighboring Muslim countries, and to the world at large, whether Taliban had the legitimacy to form government in Afghanistan or not. That would have made it clear to so many who think that Taliban have popular support in Afghanistan – an argument that is fueling awe for Taliban in many Muslim-majority countries where people who do not even share Taliban’s radicalism are considering forceful imposition of government by Taliban as rightful. Moreover, with election results in hand, Taliban could be pushed to agree for a power-sharing setup. Today, no Afghan can dare to question Taliban or contest their right to rule over Afghanistan. This is the “gift of dictatorship” that America has given to the people of Afghanistan after 20 years of its Project Democracy.
So, Mr. Biden, before you try and absolve America of its criminal mishandling of Afghanistan, it would be better if you could issue a formal apology to the people of Afghanistan as well as to the people of America.
Make sure it is signed by all the American Presidents that have ruled over Afghanistan!
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1. “Afghan army to collapse in six months without US help: Ghani” (https://www.dawn.com/news/1383601/afghan-army-to-collapse-in-six-months-without-us-help-ghani)
2. “Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy” (https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30588.pdf)
