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The United States exited from Afghanistan in August 2021, amidst the dramatic collapse of the nation to the Taliban. This withdrawal was primarily pushed by American nationwide pursuits, but it may be inferred that America seeks to pursue its core pursuits in Afghanistan and the encompassing area via various means and mechanisms in its negotiations with the Taliban group. Nevertheless, the narratives propagated by america and different international locations following the withdrawal recommend a deceptive and false description of occasions. Within the following paragraphs, the writer will discover two of those deceptive narratives.
The primary deceptive narrative revolves across the Taliban. This narrative means that the present Taliban has remodeled or is distinct from the pre-9/11 Taliban period of their remedy of the folks, which is much from the reality. Not surprisingly, this narrative was formulated in Pakistan, however was later disseminated by america, significantly via Khalilzad — the U.S. Particular Consultant for Afghanistan Reconciliation through the Doha talks with the Taliban. In the course of the negotiations, america unwittingly and in a relatively surprising function, assumed the place of advocating for the Taliban, looking for to persuade the worldwide group, particularly the European nations concerned within the negotiations with the Taliban that the group had undergone important modifications. The US in the end made important concessions to the Taliban within the Doha Settlement which was signed between the 2 events in February 2020. An settlement that paved the best way for the collapse of the republic authorities and the return of the Taliban to energy in Kabul in mid-August 2021.
Nevertheless, subsequent occasions have clearly demonstrated that the Taliban haven’t modified. Certainly, the alternative has occurred, and the group has develop into extra ruthless than they have been within the Nineties. For instance, they’ve imposed restrictions on women’ schooling, hindered girls’s participation in society, and imposed their ideology and custom on the final inhabitants throughout the nation. They’ve additionally compelled folks to stick to their conventional gown code, significantly brutally imposing strict gown laws on girls in city in addition to rural areas, prohibiting them from showing in public locations with out masking their faces, basically mandating the sporting of Burqas or one thing comparable. Moreover, they’ve banned all types of music aside from what aligns with their ideology and traditions.
The Taliban, however, now possesses U.S. weaponry, which has elevated their confidence and empowered the group to behave with impunity. Based on the New York Instances, the Taliban have been held accountable for the deaths or disappearances of roughly 500 former authorities troopers and workers throughout the first six months after regaining energy. Additional, the presence of Daesh (ISIS) in Afghanistan supplies the Taliban with a pretext and means to remove perceived threats with out accountability to the Afghanistan folks, a declare they’ve even touted as an emblem of their victory to the worldwide group. In stark distinction to their first rule (1996-2001), the Taliban now seems to have management over media and entry to trendy know-how. They exploit these instruments to exert management and threaten the folks each inside and out of doors Afghanistan’s borders. Over the previous two years, the Taliban have incarcerated and subjected a whole bunch of younger people to torture solely for expressing their opinions on social media that didn’t align with the Taliban’s preferences.
Moreover, in comparison with their first rule, the Taliban now have over a thousand suicide bombers, posing a menace to each their opponents inside Afghanistan and neighboring international locations. Based on Bloomberg, amid a water dispute with Iran, the Taliban have deployed a whole bunch of suicide bombers to the border with Iran.
The second deceptive narrative, propagated by Pakistani politicians straight and utilized by the U.S. and plenty of different Western politicians in response to criticism relating to their selections associated to the present scenario in Afghanistan, revolves across the characterization of Afghanistan as a standard and sophisticated society. Whereas it’s true that Afghanistan is a posh and ethnically numerous nation, it is very important observe that not all its residents adhere to conventional beliefs, particularly these subscribed to by the Taliban group.
On the one hand, embracing custom doesn’t equate to endorsing the ideology of the Taliban. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that totally different areas of Afghanistan have their distinct traditions and cultures. For example, cities like Kabul, Bamyan, or Herat differ considerably from provinces like Kandahar or Helmand, which function strongholds for the Taliban. Whereas the Taliban might certainly replicate the standard values of rural Pashtuns, it’s necessary to notice that this doesn’t embody all Pashtuns. Nonetheless, the query arises: why ought to this custom be imposed upon the whole inhabitants of the nation that has totally different traditions? Or a extra important query might be raised: ought to a nation be handed over to a terrorist group solely due to their conventional beliefs?
Most significantly, the first victims of the August 2021 tragedy are the younger women and men of Afghanistan. These are people who obtained their schooling through the presence of the worldwide group within the nation—a technology that breathed the air of freedom for just a few years. They’re a technology that aspires and yearns to pursue their goals, make their very own decisions, and have fun their potential and capabilities. Regrettably, this technology is now enduring a few of their darkest days, and but, the world stays largely silent. Whereas the worldwide group might have sure justifications for the older technology in Afghanistan on their resolution to depart Afghanistan to the Taliban, they appear to have no recourse for addressing the plight of the younger technology.
As somebody who was born through the battle with the previous Soviet Union, started major schooling through the battle with the Taliban, and accomplished highschool, bachelor’s, and grasp’s degree research in a greater scenario, however through the battle with terrorism, and ultimately left the nation within the second Taliban rule, I subsequently regard the final 20 years (2001-2021) as the very best a part of my life. I additionally wholeheartedly thank the worldwide group for his or her 20-year presence in my nation and their assist in several sectors. Nevertheless, I can’t flip a blind eye to what’s taking place in my nation now given the horrific human rights abuse by the Taliban regime. Whereas I’m not assigning full blame to the worldwide group for all of Afghanistan’s challenges and acknowledge the unfavourable contributions of my nation’s politicians on this regard, it does make me ponder how the liberal world dramatically relinquished management of a rustic to one of the crucial extremist teams on the planet. What’s significantly disturbing and stunning is the try and rationalize this via deceptive narratives now.
In conclusion, the implications of the Taliban regime will not be solely detrimental to the well-being of nearly all of the Afghanistan inhabitants, resulting in every day victims, however additionally they have the potential to affect the liberal world in the long term. The liberal world, subsequently, shouldn’t compromise its dedication to human rights values in pursuit of short-term nationwide pursuits. As a substitute, they need to adapt their narrative relating to the struggling in Afghanistan in a approach that’s sustainable in the long run. Certainly, acknowledging previous errors can function the essential first step on this endeavor, and it has the potential to alleviate a minimum of among the struggling skilled by the brand new technology in Afghanistan.
[Photo by the U.S. Department of State, via Wikimedia Commons]
The views and opinions expressed on this article are these of the writer.
Sultan Ahmad Aria is a Ph.D. candidate in Politics at Manchester Metropolitan College, UK. Previous to his Ph.D. research, Mr. Aria labored as a Lecturer in political science at a number of universities in Afghanistan for six years. He has printed greater than 15 analysis and analytical articles in nationwide journals, and newspapers in Afghanistan.
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