The Political and Strategic Motives of US in Extending Its Stay in Afghanistan
By: Saifullah Mustanir

Kunduz city, which is one of strategic cities in the north of Afghanistan – connecting the country with Central Asia – fell in to the hands of Taliban forces dramatically on 28th of September, only to prepare the public opinion in the US, in order to support the stay of the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan beyond the given date. Therefore, a week later – on October 6th 2015, General Campbell, the Commander of US and NATO's occupying forces in Afghanistan, submitted a report to US Senate's Defense Committee, within which the stay of their forces within Afghanistan was suggested as indispensable. Within the same week – on October 8th – the NATO's Defense Ministers' meeting also emphasized the US troops' stay in Afghanistan, which was followed by the United States President Obama announcement on October 15th stating that he will keep 9800 occupying troops during 2016, and 5500 would stay in Afghanistan beyond 2016. On the following day, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, installed by John Kerry, appreciation of Obama's decision, as well as the next visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif on 20th October, are all desperate efforts aimed to strengthen the United States' long term plans for the region.

The entire Muslim Ummah have witnessed how Hizb ut Tahrir have exposed the US plans for the region through its invasion of Afghanistan i.e. the encirclement or containment of Russia and China, taking control of Central Asian and Caspian Sea's oil, gas and hydro-carbon resources, making routes to transport these resources, and most importantly to prevent an emergence of the unified Islamic System Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashidah.

In addition, Hizb ut Tahrir have always exposed the treachery of the Muslim rulers and have informed the Ummah of their evil and malicious plans, styles and tools. After President Ghani signed the Security Agreement with the United States and have afghanized the colonial war, he is now pushing for an Afghan public support for it. In order to achieve this he is parroting US dictated phrases, such as "United States and Afghanistan have common regional interests" and that "Kabul is central to the United States' long term war against "Terrorism", therefore US has been supporting Kabul'. He in fact is leading a US war at the cost of the sacred blood of the innocent Muslims.

Furthermore, on October 17th Russian President Vladimir Putin while addressing the Common Wealth Countries in Kazakhstan said "The situation in Afghanistan is indeed on the verge of becoming a complete chaos". He also said, "Different extremist organizations are mounting their influence and are doing it openly". According to Putin the objective of the extremist organizations is to find way to central Asia. On the other hand, the republics that were once part of the USSR have decided to make a combined defense center under the leadership of Russia, so that to control any crises that may arise in the region.

Pakistan's political and military establishment too are eager in curbing the growing call for the Khilafah "Caliphate". The spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said with regards to the next visit of Nawaz Sharif to US that Nawaz Sharif will brief American President Barak Obama about the efforts of Pakistan in curbing terrorism/extremism, bringing peace in Afghanistan, as well as the concerns about the Atomic program of Pakistan. All this is happening because of the unprecedented awareness among the Islamic Ummah and the growing call for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" state. Hizb ut Tahrir, after creating a global public opinion for the Khilafah "Caliphate" have now turned effusively towards the Armed forces of the Ummah and are calling them for Nusrah. As a result of which U.S. and west in general are desperate and fearful of the support of few Army General in the Armies of the Muslim world to the call for the Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashidah, which will turn the Atomic strength of Pakistan into the strength of the Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashidah. Keeping this in perspective, on Thursday New York Times, in one of its reports, said that President Obama is thinking of a policy and mechanism that will limit the Atomic capability of Pakistan.

Lastly, US through its military presence, the puppet rulers and corrupt systems want to continue spilling the sacred blood of the Muslims for achieving its colonial objectives. U.S. wants to destroy all sorts of political, economic and military capabilities of the Muslim world, especially of those countries that have the potential of becoming a launching pad for this global change. Hence they have made our lands their war zones and are creating turmoil in our lands one after the other, through its brutal military and colonial capitalism, as a result of which the people in Afghanistan and other Muslim lands are literally burning. If the same policies are being pursued by the puppet regime, Afghanistan would remain a center of US crimes, terror and barbarity, which will further increase due to the strategic and security pacts that have provided US with the much needed legitimacy.

* Director Media Office of the Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan
* Written for Ar-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 48