Afghans must determine their own future
ALL people have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
The Biden administration insists the US drawdown of troops stems from Donald Trump’s agreement with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, last February.
Critics argue that like climate change, the new administration can reverse foreign policy of its predecessor if it had political will.
What is significant of the Doha agreement was that the US was aware of the unsustainability of the war in Afghanistan. It was only a matter of time before inevitable defeat.
The US did what it does best, leaving the Afghan government to resist against the offensive Taliban in a spiral of relentless strife and civil war.
But the plot failed. US and Nato leaders were caught off-guard in their intelligence. Ashraf Ghani fled the presidential palace with feelings amongst Afghans of abandonment.
Biden spelled out conditions of civil war prevailing, but omitted the protagonist in the script, being the US.
Afghanistan has substantial resources of strategic economic interest to the US and its Nato allies to have invaded Afghanistan and occupied it for 20 years.
The US plan to withdraw while from a safe distance perhaps rendering aerial support would certainly be on the Pentagon’s strategic objectives.
Securing the Doha agreement was merely to ensure safe passage of US troops out of Afghanistan.
The perennial neo-colonial divide and rule policy severely backfired.
Biden openly admitting US invasion of Afghanistan never sought nation-building.
This certainly adds salt to a gaping open wound for ordinary Afghanis, a master plan by GW Bush/Rumsfeld administration in effecting regime change – “keeping America safe”.
Protecting regional interests were the prize.
The US are notorious agent provocateurs in war-torn conflict, emanating in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Iraq’s regime change was suitable to the US and its allies’ regional interests.
Significantly, the Chilcot Report’s damning findings against former British prime minister Tony Blair’s intelligence reports did not establish, “beyond doubt” Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
The incumbent US administration contradicts itself of Isis/Al-Qaeda, which again its genesis must be scrutinised of US intelligence complicity.
Nevertheless, these existential threats are juxtaposed to the decision to withdraw because US objectives were realised in terror cells not having metastasised.
No credible reasons underlying the decision to withdraw exist, but to reasonably conclude the Taliban overwhelmingly outmanoeuvred and convincingly defeated the US/Nato alliance.
The War on Terror was a disdainful amoral sale to gain international support in an unjustified war on attacking another country’s sovereignty.
US invasion undermines the Afghan people of their nationhood rights.
Imposed values onto a religious cultural society has brought greater harm than good.
The atrocities perpetrated by the US army, torture of political prisoners, and women in Bagram and Guantanamo prison are well documented, as is the distressing case of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
Gross violations of international human rights and Geneva conventions were perpetrated in torture chambers where prisoners’ rights were utterly abrogated.
The War on Terror rhetoric conceived Islamophobia, which actively exists and permeates in America and Europe today.
Successive US presidents have contributed to Islamophobia narrative, culminating in Trump’s open hate policy towards Muslims.
Waterboarding and other inhumane torture practices conceptualised during the GW Bush era also violate the UN Convention Against Torture, constituting crimes against humanity.
Targeted killings and assassination through successive US administrations, spreads its own sui generis terrorism.
This is hidden in the relentless media narrative of the allies being custodians in protection of human rights.
US foreign policy permits military aid to apartheid Israel sustaining belligerent occupation of Palestine.
The US safeguards strategic regional resources by forming alliances and injecting trillions of dollars into regimes, sustaining arms trade and warmongering.
Unfortunately, this trumps the UN Charter.
In the aftermath of defeat, there are frantic scenes in the vicinity of Kabul International Airport with ordinary Afghan families seeking refuge, a new life and SIVs who may be complicit in US occupation and perpetration of atrocities, despite undertakings of a benevolent general amnesty.
The hope is for Afghanis to realise the right of self-determination enshrined in international law and determine a trajectory of economic and social upliftment to emancipate their war-torn country.
The Afghan state must earn the respect among its neighbours and the global community of nations.
The Taliban ruled with an incensed and politicised parochial interpretation of Islam and is not agreeable to many Muslims understanding of the broader message to humanity.
Can this significant victory by Taliban create an inclusive, just and compassionate society with a functioning and viable political and economic state to survive in the 21st century and beyond?
The US-imposed Afghan state collapsed counting systemic corruption and social class division as underlying causes.
Extreme ideology, disconnected from good conscience would receive the ire of the international community.
The legitimate concerns of marginalised women and girls, religious minorities previously targeted have every right to an inclusive government acting in their best interests.
Rights defenders, media, broader international community, the UN and other forums must also hold the Taliban accountable where there is proliferation of fundamental human rights.
So too, must we advocate for a just government to propel the aspirations of the Afghan people who have endured so much over the last 40 years.
The adage – actions speak louder than words must hold true for a Taliban leadership wanting to gain support and legitimacy of the world through its reformed policies.
Victory in Afghanistan – “graveyard of empires” – is certainly to be echoed in the annals of history, where international law triumphs for the people’s right of self-determination.
False narratives and propaganda which grossly undermine international law have succumbed through sincere courage and attrition displayed by the Taliban.
The hope and aspiration for self-determination in achieving a nation’s full potential with justice perhaps now seems realisable.