Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Concerns over Foreign Troop Withdrawal amidst Ongoing Violence

Today’s hot media topic is the US Troops Withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is said that US President Joe Biden has finally decided to leave Afghanistan on September 11, 2021. President Biden has concluded that a conditions-based approach is similar to the approach of the past two decades, and a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever. That’s why he has reached the decision that the United States will complete its drawdown and remove its forces from Afghanistan before September 11. Following the US decision, European countries such as Britain and Germany have also disclosed their decisions to leave the country by the same date.
These decisions come after the recent letter of Antony Blinken to Afghan leaders when he had warned Ghani that time was growing short and had said that the May 1 option was still on the table. The letter had stressed on urgency of the peace process warning of deteriorating security situation in case the US forces completely withdraw from Afghanistan.
The decision also comes after repeated warning of the US commanders and SIGAR that the government will not last long if the US forces withdraw or stop fiscal supports. When we compare the fresh expression of Biden with repeated warnings and the tone of the letter, all convey one important message neither we are serious in war and nor in peace. Therefore, a conditions-based approach for Biden is “a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever.”
Anyway, now that the US has decided to leave and the European allies and NATO forces have also shown the stance, what would be its implications for Afghanistan? The ordinary people criticize the US and International allies because they have not acted upon their agreement and commitment made with the people of Afghanistan. The people say that the goals of foreign forces have not yet been achieved; the mission they had defined for their presence in Afghanistan.
The war, terrorism, drugs, and other troubles have increased and opium is still being produced and smuggled to finance the “terrorist” war and so the US has not acted upon their commitment which had made with the people of Afghanistan. They expect that the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan is subject to appropriate conditions, including security, stability, peace, and the realization of democracy; otherwise, the bitter experience of the past will be repeated.
Many Afghan politicians have the same position as people saying that that withdrawal of the foreign forces and providing conditions for the withdrawal of these forces is the desire of the Afghan people, but the conditions for their withdrawal have not been provided yet in the country. For example, The House of Representatives says that if these forces withdraw, Afghanistan will face the possibility of civil war. Speaking at a plenary session of the House of Representatives today (Wednesday, May 25), Mir Rahman Rahmani, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said that after the withdrawal of the US and other foreign forces, “there is a possibility that Afghanistan return to dangerous civil war and it is possible that Afghanistan once again becomes a geography of global terrorism.”
According to military experts, such a fast reduction of troops would weaken the Afghan government’s ability to deal with a resurgent Taliban. The withdrawal of foreign forces will not only have fiscal and objective implications on security forces but also will weaken their morality on the battlefield. Earlier, the US senior military experts had also warned that a premature withdrawal could lead to a collapse of the Afghan government and even the US intelligence community assessment released warned that the Taliban was likely to make gains on the battlefield.
However, the Afghan government and the security officials have repeatedly ensured the people not to worry and the security forces are able to defend the country.
The US troop’s withdrawal will not be without implications for themselves, as well.
In fact, the withdrawal of the US forces will have far more serious implications for the US and its allies. On one hand, it shows the weakness of the US government against a specific insurgent group. Hereafter, the rival of the US and even the terrorist groups in other places will learn lessons from the Taliban on how to be courageous and resist the US. On the other hand, it will give a lesson to the rest of the world and even to the US friends that the US is an unreliable partner and is leaving those who have worked with it for years. The United States is involved in different countries in the world including Syria, Iraq and they may reconsider their commitments to the United States when they see US non-alignment in Afghanistan.
Unlike all, the withdrawal of the US will be considered a great achievement for Taliban. After 20 years of resistance, they think they have defeated a superpower with all its allies in Afghanistan.  Therefore, the Taliban will become more overconfident and more stubborn at the peace table.
As a result, there are serious fear and worries that the upcoming peace talks may face deadlock and then a dangerous civil war happens in the country. On one hand, the Taliban do not come down from its dogmatic position and on the other hand, it is hard for the people of Afghanistan to tolerate the domination of an extremist group while losing their rights, freedoms, and achievements obtained at a heavy cost in the last two decades.