US humiliation and Afghan tragedy
US humiliation and Afghan tragedy
Alas! The worst is officially the reality and obscurity order of the day. The bruised flag of Afghanistan is replaced with the obnoxious Taliban’s banner. The mightiest and strongest has left the power corridor with contused wounds . The fumbling and bumbling of the situation is heartbreaking. This highlights the failure of America military might, intelligence and nation building, above all it reveals US failure to defend those whom it sworn to defend.
At a matter of just weeks twenty years of history have been reversed at a speed no one predicted. By July the US abandoned bagaram Airbase, the main hub of power and military operations. They packed up in the middle of dark, gloomy, and frightening Night. What’s worse is that, they even skipped informing their afghan allies; thus shaking and shattering their moral. Perhaps it was the right thing to do but, The manner and pace at which it was done is humiliating and shockingly spectacular. It was fixated and entirely focused on evacuating its nationals then on helping those who had fought alongside it for over twenty years .
To add insult to injury, it all happened during the presidency of a democratic leader. Not only did this gentleman ruthlessly rejected ‘America first policy’ but also prided himself on his foreign policy knowledge. Resultantly, the notorious force accelerated their offensive while the so called afghan nights started crumbling. Ironically, they were trained by the super power state to the tune of a whopping $80 billion. Statistically, they also outnumbered Taliban to the ratio of 4 to 1.
Shockingly, afghan establishment being psychologically defeated thought better to surrender, ask for amnesty then fight. On August 6th Taliban took their first provincial capital. Then cities started crumbling at an astonishing pace. Within a week prime cities like Kandahar came under the Taliban control. Followed by encircling of Kabul and negotiations.
What’s horrific is the fact that the president ashraf ghani himself escaped. A mad rush started. From evacuation of staff from embassies, and flight suspension, to the frightful scenes of people felling to death from airplanes.
Before US invasion in 2001, Taliban were in power for 5 years. Not only did they imposed their brutal interpretation of Islamic law but also banned music and girls education. Men and women were shockingly stoned to death. Amnesty have been extended to whole nation and tall promises have been claimed. They are propagating a less brutal image to the world. But the millions dollar question is can they be trusted?
Worryingly, food prices are through the roof and people are struggling to get hold of even the basic supplies. Not to mention the large queues outside the banks, while the banks runs out of cash. Not to forget the 400,000 who were forced to leave their homes since the beginning of year. The inflation is all time high, while the brain drain has triggered at an enormous speed. The professionals and experts are leaving for safe places, while the poorer sticks to the planes.
The Taliban swift return to power in Afghanistan has shocked the world and humiliated America. The forever war of interest has ended but in a terrible way. Though Joe Biden has landed the final blow and is held solely responsible for this mess. One must not forget that US past leadership has an equal shame and blame to Share. As a matter of fact it was trump who signed a flawed agreement with the Taliban according to which he agreed to pull US forces out by May 1st in exchange for very little and vague . Never mind the Obama rather substantial surge of American forces in 2010 But even before obama it was W Bush who initiated the Iraq war. So all of them have a collective hand in this labyrinth situation.
One wonders what exactly will happen to the hopeless, helpless, and hapless masses of Afghanistan. Large humanitarian, social, and constitutional issues awaits to be solved. What exactly is missing is the system, the leadership, the establishment, the consensus and strong will to solve these problems.
* The writer is a lawyer and can be reached at hamzazakirkhan@yahoo.com.
