Afghanistan has been in a whirl of unending war and unfettered turmoil in the past four decades. War and political crises were incontrovertible proofs of monolithic instability in Afghanistan, manacling the political elite and complicating the future of the country.
It is a fact that politics and power in Afghanistan have always been disputed, whereas politicians and political elites, who are the main players in this dome, with every failure and collapse, have continuously blamed foreigners and their political rivals for their unwise political decisions. These politicians love to blame others for their failures and become so judgmental instead of admitting their dumb mistakes.
With 20 years of direct support from the international community, especially the US, the previous so-called Afghan leaders turned Afghanistan into a failed state. The western-backed government collapsed in August 2021 following withdrawal of foreign troops. All of these leaders and officials surprisingly watched the disintegration of the system and left the country desperately out of fear not to be caught by the Taliban. The Taliban, who fought against the US and previous Afghan government in the past 20 years, is now ruling the country with an estimated 36 million populations.
What previous Afghan officials are doing now?
Nearly 15 months since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, these fugitive politicians instead of admitting their big political mistakes, have rolled up their sleeves to prescribe healing medication for Afghanistan’s dilemma. It is good, still they are thinking about Afghanistan, but why did they fail to present such a healing prescription when they were in power in the last 20 years. They had both time and money to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a failed state. It is much better for them to accept they were more focused on their personal interests and were not interested at all in the fair distribution of political power. Every political figure wanted all power and more money.
There is not a single episode where a politician withdrew support for a cause which was against his personal interest, but they always acted against national interest, and even threatened with civil war. In some cases, they also raised ethnic issues when things were not in their favor. They also focused on personnel wealth and family well-being only.
These politicians who are now trying to write prescriptions for the country and are engaging in discussions on social platforms, it is necessary for them to take a look at the past and their political inaccuracies, because they need to learn from past mistakes.
The first and big mistake
The first and biggest mistake was being too reliant on foreign countries and their support. It was like a “fashion” and a matter of “pride” for the politicians to have external supporters. They thought only foreigners can turn Afghanistan toward a development state, and therefore, they did not pay attention to the plurality and diversity of the society and the political demands within the society.
They pursued staying in power at any cost, and even played religious and tribe cards just to remain in power. These politicians were also lacking unity and involved in corruption, embezzlement, impunity, nepotism, discrimination, zero accountability and etc….
These officials were too busy in power and collecting money through one or other way that they even forget that the presence and intervention of foreign countries does not lead to permanent stability and sustainable development in any country. If it was so, Afghanistan could have turned into a center of regional business hub, and the most developed state.
Fugitive Ghani refuses to accept US withdrawal
The fled former President Ashraf Ghani had refused repeatedly to accept the reality of a US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. This was partly due to his own delusions and it was a big mistake. Ghani during his speech on several occasions spoke in favor of US presence in Afghanistan and all time criticized peace talks between Taliban and US in Qatar. Meanwhile he also behaved like he knows what is happening in Doha, but he was deceiving the nation.
Even his several spokesmen said that Ghani is being informed of every development in Doha, but they were lying. They had no exact knowledge and 15 August came as a big surprise for them.
Ghani’s former vice president, Amrullah Saleh even said that the US will not withdraw from Afghanistan, and called on the Afghans not to doubt his intelligence information and knowledge. However, the Afghans only wanted this war to end because there were around 200 to 300 daily casualties. In 2019, Ghani said that more than 45,000 members of the country’s security forces have been killed since he became leader in 2014.
It is a fact that Afghanistan has been suffering from plenty of problems at the moment, but at least the war is over. No one can turn a blind eye over the Daesh threat, and other issues, including education and the fragile economic situation, but they could be resolved through unity and comprehensive strategies.
