By Chathushka Perera
Kabul, Afghanistan (CWBN)_ The future of the Afghan people has been a crude and unpredictable one, determined by insurmountable destabilising factors, which have followed after several centuries of foreign exploitation and apparent “interventions”.
Since the 1839, numerous wars were waged against the invading British Empire, ending with the War of Independence (1919), followed by a civil war (1929) waged against the constitutional Afghan monarchy amid British and Soviet influences, which finally resulted in the series of wars, which amount to the Afghan conflict that has continued to overinflate.
The War in Afghanistan (2001 – Present), built on the precursor of counter-terrorism following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, New York, has much to do with the foreign meddling that has taken place in Afghan independence, particularly with regard to the Cold War.
A nine year long, proxy war (1979-1989) between the coalition of Afghan Government and Soviet forces, and mujahedeen insurgent groups, funded and supported by the US, UK, China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran. A large number of the Afghan population was left devastated by the conflict.
Although the US and NATO allies have, in recent years, taken steps forward to strike peace between the Afghan Government and Taliban insurgents. In February, the Trump administration supported an US-Taliban Agreement that led to peace talks between the warring parties in mid-September, in Doha, Qatar. However, the talks have long since stagnated resulting a significant escalation of the situation in the country.
Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan are the main provinces where open conflict has been reported, while multiple suicide bombing, IED explosions and shootings have led to the massacring of countless civilian lives.
Hence, Afghan critiques have quite justifiably claim that the US Presidential Election has side-lined the on-going conflict, which has devastated social, economic and cultural aspects of the country. Just prior to the election, in early October, then President Donald Trump said that he would bring back American troops in Afghanistan “home by Christmas”, amid on-going peace talks.
The comments faced considerable push back from NATO members and the Afghan Government, and Trump’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who had then predicted a resolution for the conflict within a matter of weeks, as 18 of 20 articles of interest were agreed upon.
Nonetheless, Trump’s remarks are generally on-brand, making them a likely ploy to garner votes from the families of veterans and service members. Whereas, Biden has insisted on maintaining a small force of about 2000 US troops in Afghanistan to follow up on counter-terrorism operations.
Whoever wins the election this year, the likelihood of pressure against insurgents are anticipated by the Afghan people, on par with assurances given by Khalilzad and Commander of US-NATO troops in Afghanistan, Scott Miller, over the course of October.
