بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
America's failure in Afghanistan
After signing the agreement in Doha, in February 2020 with Taliban, America had withdrawn most of its forces from Afghanistan, sending home the occupying forces isn't new for the mujahid people of Afghanistan, similar withdrawal had happened in 1989 where the Communist forces withdrew from Afghanistan after a decade long war. The West that supported Afghanistan against the Soviet Union, had turned against the mujahid people, occupied Afghanistan in October 2001 and took over Kabul. Though the UN Charter considers the sovereignty of the member countries, it must be understood that a major powerful nation can still occupy any other country, Soviet and American invasions are proof for this.
Both the ideologies i.e. Communism and Capitalism after the invasion couldn't convince people or deliver its ideology in a successful manner and failed miserably in Afghanistan. One of the important factor is that people of Afghanistan has deep rooted Aqeedah of Islam and their behaviour of not bowing down to the invaders and accept their sovereignty over them.
America is a strong ideological country and it would know that a country with deep rooted Islamic culture could not be easily managed by Western laws, hence it had promoted the slogans of freedom, women rights, human rights and other attractive slogans like "nation building" to continue her occupation. It also recruited puppets from the people of Afghanistan to promote the idea of Western way of life. People deluded by the Western solution joined their hands with America, the first step of the plan was formation of Afghan Transitional Administration in 2002 followed by democratic election in 2004. But the fact is America's democracy failed miserably in Afghanistan where People’s participation in the elections had witnessed a severe decline from 84% in 2004 to 39% in 2009, and historically low turnout election with only 20% poll in 2019. These results had shown failure of western democracy in the Muslim land, this is because the western system and the puppet government couldn't win the hearts and mind of the Muslims in Afghanistan with its secular ideology and its democratic system.
Those who energetically supported the American presence are now criticizing its withdrawal, former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai in an interview to the Indian media in July 2021 spoke about the failure of American policy in Afghanistan, he said "the mission, as was stated by the United States repeatedly, that their presence in Afghanistan is to fight extremism and terrorism and bring stability. That has obviously failed. Look at our condition."
There were many aspects of the society in which America had failed to provide solutions, be it stability, security, economic prosperity, morality, education, nation and state building.
With respect to the security and stability, it is well known that the post withdrawal period of the Red Army in 1989 led to internal chaos which lasted for several years in Afghanistan until Taliban took over Kabul in 1996. This stability did not continue for a long time, until America invaded Afghanistan in 2001. According to the Watson Institute, 241,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zone since 2001. More than 71,000 of those killed have been civilians. War zone had forcefully displaced 2.7 million out of their home even beyond its border mostly into Iran and Pakistan. Their invasion had turned people of the same faith to look at each other as enemies and civilians have been living in a state of fear due to the chaos created by the invasion.
The flow of foreign aid through military contracts and infrastructure projects have created a new economic and business elite in Afghanistan. Thus, political and economic power has been concentrated in the hands of the few powerful individuals who maintain links to the Afghan government with substantial control over the Afghan private sector. Poverty and economic disparity is on rise. According to Asian Development Bank data in 2020, 47.3% of the population live below the national poverty line. Every year almost 400,000 Afghans, many of whom are educated youth, enter the Afghan job market but end up in protracted unemployment and face an uncertain future.
American method of state building was incorporated with corruption, according to a report published by SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) which interviewed key figures in the war and brought to light the huge level of corruption that America had involved in, to achieve its short term goals, although it had failed severely in this long war and building the state of Afghanistan. Corruption had happened at all levels from amending the Constitution in favor of America's stance to funding notorious militia commanders. According to a U.S. official who served in Kabul, "In 2002 and 2003, when Afghan tribal councils gathered to write a new constitution, the U.S. government gave “nice packages'' to delegates who supported Washington’s preferred stance on human rights and women’s rights". Post 2004 presidential election legislators in the parliament would speak, "so-and-so has just been to the U.S. Embassy and got this money. They said ‘ok now I need to go,’ ” the U.S. official said. Thus money has become an embedded part of the democracy to win a majority legislation in parliament, this isn't specific to Afghanistan but the de facto reality of any democracy in the world. In one instance tons of opium were found from the governor's office of Helmand province and he was removed from the governor post due to international pressure.
People of Afghanistan are Muslims and carry high moral values, acts like sex outside marriage are deemed to be severe crime according to Sharia, even girls running away from home (farar az manzil) with strangers are considered as moral crime in Afghanistan, but Western world that believe in gender equality and consider equality of men and women as universal standard, modified penal code and decriminalized the act of girls running away from home with strange men. Human Rights Watch had pushed Ashraf Ghani during his tenure and paved a way for women to run out of their homes without the permission of the guardian. Heather Barr, senior researcher from Human Rights Watch who was deputed in Afghanistan for six years says: “The blanket criminalisation of zina [the Islamic term for illicit sexual relations] pushes sex work underground and cuts sex workers off from opportunities they could have to at least protect themselves and make their working conditions safer.” Western world which do not have any regards for the moral values, have been exporting their immoral standards to the Muslim world.
As for education in Afghanistan, the Ministry of education redefined the curriculum with more focus on love for the country which would trigger more nationalism and enmity with other countries even against the universal brotherhood of Islam which the Muslim Ummah is facing under the rule of western puppets. USAID, UN agencies, embassies of European countries were fully involved in planning process of National Education Strategic Plan (2017-2021) which includes guidelines of CEDAW (Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) to frame the curriculum. Implementation of these guidelines had already reaped various social ills in many countries, abuse against women has multiplied in several countries only after the implementation of resolutions from CEDAW. West under the disguise of Savior for Afghanistan attempted to westernize education but did not have schools to sit and books to read. The Education Ministry acknowledges that 6,000 schools have no buildings at all and 50 percent of the country’s 17,000 schools lack adequate facilities. In Kabul, the capital, schools are overcrowded and students study under tents and ruined buildings. Throughout Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, 75 percent of students face textbook shortages.
In several aspects America has faced nothing except humiliation and failure after spending nearly $2.3 trillion in this two-decade war. America's slogan of stability, security and state building are also clear failures which they couldn't achieve even with the presence of international coalition forces and will not be possible after the withdrawal of these forces from Afghanistan.
Allah Azza wa Jal says,
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَسَيُنفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ]
“Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcomed. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto Hell.” (Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 36).
As for the Muslims of Afghanistan, it is time to unite on the basis of Islam and stay away from reliance on west. Western support is like a mirage which will fade away and do not have a true solution for any of the problems that humankind is facing, moreover the truth is western countries themselves are facing severe crises like Brexit in Europe, racism in America, people have protest against election results in America's democracy. The Muslim rulers that once relied on west had faced death at the hands of Muslims or at the hands west themselves like Sadat, Saddam, Gaddafi, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Discard the Western alliance unite with fellow brothers in Islam, do not earn the wrath of Allah and Muslims by going against the commands and prohibition of Allah Azza wa Jal.
Allah Azza wa Jal says,
[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَكُمْ هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَالْكُفَّارَ أَوْلِيَاءَ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ]
“Oh you who believe, do not take as allies those who ridicule your religion and make fun of it- whether people who were given the Scripture before you, or disbelievers, and be mindful of God if you are true believers.” [Surah Al-Maeda, Verse 57].
As for the Muslims of Pakistan, you have great lessons from the Muslims in Afghanistan, sincere mujahid people with the help of Allah Azza wa Jal were able to deal with the superpower without advanced ammunition, they had made American coalition forces leave Afghanistan. It is your turn to reject the US plan, cut its wings in the region and emerge as an independent ideological state. Islamic ideology has the capability to unite the neighbouring Muslim land and manifest the true alternative solution for humankind.
Allah Azza wa Jal says,
[هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ]
“It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad SAW) with guidance and the deen of truth, to make it superior over all other deen even though the disbelievers hate it. [Surah At-Taubah, Verse 33].
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Faizul ibn Ahmed