Intra-Afghan talks started in Doha, Qatar on September 12 but they are not making much progress. The Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government representatives have very different perspectives on the future set-up in Afghanistan.
The Loya Jirga (grand assembly) is an honoured Afghan tradition but last month the US-installed president of Afghanistan used it as a cover to surrender to the Taliban. While the move is welcome, the manner in which it was utilized is not so honourable
Will Afghanistan finally have peace after 40 years of war and bloodshed? This will depend on whether various Afghan factions can accommodate ethnic groups with divergent interests.
For Trump, exit from Afghanistan before the November presidential elections is the one act that he can present as ‘achievement’ of sorts. But is the American establishment prepared to allow him to do so?
The US and its NATO allies do not give up on mischief. They may withdraw all forces from Afghanistan but their destabilization activities will not cease.
The four-point agreement signed between the Taliban and the US in Doha, Qatar on February 29, 2020 was remarkable in more ways than one. If there is a single take-away from the agreement, it is that another superpower has had its nose rubbed in the dust by the rag-tag band of Afghan Taliban.
There have been many false starts about peace in Afghanistan but there may be guarded optimism this time that may be, just maybe, there will be peace. The next few weeks will tell but unless there is actual peace, it is prudent to be cautious.
Based on our understanding of global events and their impact on the Muslim world, we identify certain trouble spots that are likely to remain in the news. We are not making predictions, merely analyzing trends that lead us to such conclusions.
Afghans will observe another grim anniversary in their long ordeal with foreign occupiers: the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 40 years ago. Today another self-proclaimed superpower is about to bite the bullet in the landlocked country.
Donald Trump’s cancellation of talks with the Taliban had nothing to do with the killing of one American soldier; it had everything to do with the Taliban’s refusal to meet him before an agreement was signed.
When the Americans and their allies first attacked and occupied Afghanistan, they thought it would be a cakewalk. Nearly 18 years later, the Americans are begging the Taliban to allow them a safe retreat!
The US military has lost in Afghanistan. What is underway now in talks between the Taliban and the US is to work out a way for an orderly withdrawal of American forces from the country.
All indications point toward an end to the decades long suffering of the Afghan people. The Americans have been involved in talks not only with the Taliban, recognizing them as a major force in the country, but also with Russians and Chinese.
The Americans have lost to the Taliban in Afghanistan. What is euphemistically referred to as “negotiations” are really the terms of American surrender to be able to safely withdraw their forces from Afghanistan.
If Donald Trump is smart—a big if—he should do in Afghanistan what Richard Nixon did in Vietnam: declare victory and get the hell out. Staying put, as the Washington warlords are demanding, would merely prolong America’s misery.
The Americans are dishonest to the core. Not surprisingly, the Taliban do not trust them one bit. The Americans want to retain military bases in Afghanistan; the Taliban will have none of this. Who can blame them?
Staring defeat in the Hindu Kush mountains, the Americans have come up with other delusional proposals to destabilize neighboring Pakistan and stay in war-torn Afghanistan.
