Afghanistan Times
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After almost 20 years of presence in Afghanistan, the U.S. is seeking a political solution for the longest war in its history, driven from the attacks of 9/11, carried out by the al-Qaeda terrorist network there. The U.S. special envoy succeeded a preliminary peace deal on February 29th of 2020, laying out the withdrawal of American soldiers from Afghanistan. Initially, the expectations were very high for the end of war and ensuring reconciliation in the country but what appeared on the screen was way opposite as the two important sides of the war, the Afghan government and Taliban, have failed to reach any development in peace negotiations thus far. The lack of progress in the peace negotiations shows that there is no real intention for peace in Afghanistan by any of the parties involved in the conflict. On one hand, the administration of President Ashraf Ghani has even failed to make national and international consensus on peace as he is facing political controversy inside Afghanistan and losing his intimate ally, the U.S. On the other hand, the Taliban also preferred to be aggressive rather than showing warm intentions for peace. The chaotic concerns have brought the peace process into complexities. The Afghans are traumatized with the variety types of terror carried out by the Taliban across the country. Following the U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks about the remaining of American troops beyond May1, the Taliban have warned of restarting attacks on the foreign troops. Simultaneously, the U.S. top military generals expressed concerns on the worsening security situation in the country after troops’ pullout. Amid all controversies, the new U.S. proposal for Afghan peace has casted off. The complexities of war and peace have driven international allies to show fewer interests in issues regarding Afghanistan. If the situations prevail, Afghanistan will be finally like a wild Island in a devil ocean. Afghanistan is caught among world’s powerful countries – mainly have conflictive issues – with the U.S., if the Taliban seeks support from one of these countries, which the group would probably do, and the countries also willing to support it, the situation in Afghanistan would be beyond imagination. The Afghans are already seeing a rise in violence with the militants engaged in new tactics of war, hit-and-run assassination and magnetic bomb twists. To think wise, as all sides seem to be edging for a reconcile deal, and therefore, they should consider wise decisions. They should give hopeful statements and focus on reconciliation in the country instead of alarming it to deteriorate the situation. If May 1 is difficult for the U.S. to fulfill the agreement with the Taliban, it can present the Taliban with a new deadline for troop withdrawal. The Taliban must also understand the historic and one upon a time opportunity for peace and their reintegration in the Afghan society yet again. This is the time for them to earn the trust of the Afghans for peace, stop violence, engage in real negotiations and quit egoism.
