It all began in 2001 when US witnessed the most horrendous terror attack by the Al-Quaeda in the form of complete destruction of the World Trade Center(WTC) and damage of the US Pentagon Building. More than 3000 civilians lost their lives, numerous became homeless, jobless and clueless about what lies for them in future. This entire incident was master minded by Osama Bin laden, the leader of this Islamic militant group. The name that evoked tremendous feeling of fear, hatred and screamed of unparalleled incidents of terrorism.
To avenge this terror attack, US asked the Talibans, Islamists who were in power since 1996, to handover Bin Laden. This was audaciously denied by these militants and in turn US raged a war against the Taliban. They were quickly dethroned as the Talibans couldn’t stand against the supremely powerful, well equipped US military forces. US vowed to support democracy and wipe out terrorism.
Fast Forward
All was sailing smoothly with many important events taking place in Afghanistan, promising a new dawn. Formation of a new constitution, Hamid Karzai becoming the new president, increase of US troops under the leadership of Obama, killing of Osama Bin laden and ending of NATO combat operations in 2014 were some of the remarkable incidents. Amidst this, by 2015 the Taliban’s resurgence was looming large. With a series of suicide attacks, bombings and other terror attacks, the Islamic state militants had already started gaining strength. During 2019, It came as a rude shock when president Ashraf Ghani announced that more than 45000 Afghani security forces had lost their lives since 4 years.
This revelation probably fell in deaf ears and was proven right when US signed the deal of “Agreement for bringing peace” in Afghanistan, with the Talibans. It was unanimously agreed that US and NATO will withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants honored the deal. This was definitely the last straw.
Then came the D-day when President Joe Biden announced that US troops will leave Afghanistan by September 11 2021, much to the delight of the militants, who had several hidden agendas. Unofficial sources say that even during the last moments of US forces withdrawal, the Talibans had taken control of about 65% of Afghanistan. The withdrawal had simply sealed their dominance. It’s absolutely a matter of shame that with America’s exit, it took just 2 weeks for the Talibans to dethrone the reigning government and establish itself as the supreme authority. As a matter of fact, the Afghan army is supposed to be 5 times stronger and far better equipped with modern amenities, than the militants. Billions of dollars spent by the US and NATO on building the Afghan security forces have all gone in vain.
The Current Scenario
On the fateful day of 15th August 2021, Taliban took complete control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. With this, the takeover of other provinces was absolutely a child’s play for them.
It’s a matter of utter shame that the seizure came 2 weeks before the date the US had decided to withdraw its troops. It appears as if a Super power has bowed down to the harbingers of terrorism and ruthless human massacre. No amount of justification can suppress the fact that there has been utter intelligence failure, else how does one justify this seizure in such a short timespan. Is it the MONEY that matters of all, even for a SUPER POWER????
Grim visuals all around
As the Taliban militants marched around the lavish Presidential palace, thousands of Afghani nationals trying to flee the country thronged the international airport in Kabul. They feared for their and their loved ones lives, not to mention the capture of wealth and other worldly possessions. The videos of men clinging to the US military transport planes for their lives gave Goosebumps to millions. The very thought of their plight is absolutely shuddering.
ATM counters were brimming with activity since thousands gathered to collect their lives savings. The fear was quiet palpable.
It was quiet obvious that women were the one who were going to bear most of the brutalities. They will be stripped of all their rights and privileges.
Though the transition was promised to be peaceful, it was far from reality.
What lies Ahead?
A grim future is what I can say. The aftermath of the failure of US policies has definitely created havoc in Afghanistan and the neighboring countries. The manner in which the Trump administration started direct talks with the Taliban is highly questionable, given the fact that the Ashraf Ghani regime was completely left out from the discussions. No doubt the ruling party had no say in one of the most important deals sealed in the history of the country. All ends were let loose when the Biden administration also gave a green signal to the deal and reaffirmed 31st August 2021 as the exit date.
This agreement proved extremely detrimental and can be termed as one of the worst decisions ever made. The Ghani regime was compelled to agree to a power sharing formula with the Talibans along with the release of thousands of Talibani prisoners. Of course a death blow!
Had US comprehended the gameplan, the worst could have been avoided but alas! destiny had some cruel plans. Policy failure or Deliberate ignorance of the US administration is highly debatable.
The return of the Taliban to the helm of the affairs is definitely a game changer for the geopolitical situation of a number of nations associated directly or indirectly with the country. So, how can our motherland India be not affected? The Indian government has invested nearly 3 billion dollars to improve infrastructure in Afghanistan.
W.r.t Pakistan, the then reigning government never favored it and had bitter relations with the country as it was held responsible for creating furor and instability in Afghanistan. But things have changed now as Taliban shares a warm and friendly relation with the Pakistan government. So is the case with China and Russia. It remains to be seen how the Indian government is going to handle the whole situation.
The Talibans have promised to allow women and girls to continue their educational activities and be equal partners in work, however incidents coming to light share a different story.
It is quite evident that the Talibans can be controlled only by controlling the weapons supplied to them, but this is no mean feat. Undoubtedly, Pakistan will be in the lead to support them. It will go to great lengths to keep up the supply of arms and ammunitions to the Taliban, of course backed by China and Russia. Where else will the funding come from?
It is high time for the countries of the world to stand united against the mental and physical atrocities inflicted by the Talibans on the Afghani nationals. Supply of ammunitions need to be stopped with immediate effect and so should be the funding. Even though it is difficult to assess the impact this incident has caused on the US, however the day is not far off when they will get a BIG BITE from their very own ‘pala hua kutta’. Needless to say, Once a Dog, Always a Dog..
I rest my case, period!