Afghanistan Times
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Washington doubles down on threats to cut aid in rebuke of warring Afghan leaders
An enduring domestic political conflict is proving to be devastating for Afghanistan’s strategic milieu and a foreign aid which is the lifeline of our ailing economy and the more critical counterinsurgency campaign; the chaos of our politically challenged leaders continues at the people’s peril
KABUL: An American lifeline aid to Afghanistan is now under threat. The United States is becoming more serious about cutting more aid to Afghanistan as its feuding leaders can’t put an end to a lingering and bitter stalemate over the country’s disputed presidency.
The U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells, has a continued international commitment and “aid requires partnership with an inclusive government” in Afghanistan. “We all must hold Afghan leaders accountable to agree on a governing arrangement,” Wells said.
U.S. President Donald Trump in a recent rebuke of Afghan leaders for failure to end their disagreements, announced plans to cut off $1 billion aid.
The threats come amid snail-paced efforts by the political elite to end the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah through negotiating issues involving power-sharing.
The longer and deeper a bitter political rivalry drags on, the more monstrous it will become strategically and economically. An enduring domestic political conflict is proving to be devastating for Afghanistan’s strategic milieu and a foreign aid which is the lifeline of our ailing economy and the more critical counterinsurgency campaign; the chaos of our politically challenged leaders continues at the people’s peril.
This is as President Ashraf Ghani in a recent public address proposed the leadership of the Supreme Peace Council to his political opponent Abdullah Abdullah, who has announced a parallel government in opposition to election results which pronounced Ghani as a second-term president.
