ALI SUKHANVER
“Who is going to take care of you when I am no more in this world?” said the helpless prisoner in the death cell to his beloved standing on the other side of the bars.
My love! I can’t bear even the thought of anyone else touching you. He put her hands around her neck and with all his force of love began to press his fingers tightly against her throat. Just in a few moments, the girl’s pretty body fell down on the rough floor like a lifeless log of a tree. The man said staring deep into the eyes of the dying girl, “Now I can leave this world without any pain and agony of repentance.” Same is the story of the USA and Afghanistan but with a different ending. Here the so-called beloved is going to squeeze the throat of her so-called lover.
It is nothing but the international pressure and the worsening internal economic condition of the USA which has compelled it to get out of the Afghan lands. The USA had stepped in here with a belief that Afghanistan would not be much different from Iraq and it would be a plain sailing. Though in the beginning it seemed that the USA would very easily target its decided aims and objectives but gradually it came to the surface that it is almost next to impossible to enslave a nation which has been brought up and nurtured in the lap of rigid and rugged mountains. The people of Afghanistan proved themselves as unwavering and resolute as the sky-kissing mountains castled around them. The US think tanks might have proposed the same strategy in Afghanistan which was successfully adopted in Iraq during the reign of President Saddam but they unfortunately neglected some of the on ground realities which were altogether different from those in Iraq.
The most important fact which did not let the American strategy succeed in Afghanistan is the neighbouring surrounding of Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan are though apparently two different states but they have so close cultural, traditional and above all the religious relations that sometimes the line dividing these two countries seems disappearing. People living across the Pak-Afghan borders mostly belong to the same origin following the same tribal values. They get united against their enemies and for their friends. The whole of Afghan nation feels grieved when the NATTO air crafts or the US drones target the peaceful inhabitants residing either side of the Pak-Afghan borders. This was not the situation in Iraq.
Another important factor which did not let the US forces succeed in Afghanistan is the exemplary sincerity and devoutness of the Afghan people to the religion. They are never ready or willing to embrace any one whom they take as the enemy of Islam. Moreover the true passion of Jihad never lets them keep silent when they see anyone involved in any activity against their religion. Although the US planners have always tried their best to defame the Jihaddi elements with the help of the western media and most of the time with the intelligence agencies like CIA, Mosad and the Raw but still they have not succeeded. The Jihaddis are continuously getting stronger and stronger in spite of the full use of vigor against them by the NATTO and the US forces. It would be certainly a very bitter comment from the US point of view that the Jihaddis are enjoying a full support and favour from the local people. The US planners have succeeded in inducting the agents of CIA, Mosad and the Raw in the very inner circles of the militants fighting against the US invasion in Afghanistan. These agents are targeting the mosques and other places of worship and even the shopping centers and educational institutions not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan. As far as the militants or the Jihaddis are concerned, it is out of question that they get involved in any kind of activity harmful to the innocent citizens particularly belonging to the Muslim society. Further more they could never even think of blasting a Muslim place of worship where innocent namaziz are busy in their prayers. Neither could be the schools their target because it is the strict preaching of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to do all that is possible for the spread of knowledge. In short the picture painted by the foreign agents, sometimes garbed as the militants and some times as the Taliban, is not the real picture of Islam. It is nothing but the craftsmanship of these paid agents. The only purpose behind is to defame the forces which are striving against the planning of the Anti-Muslim lobbies.
The USA is using all possible tools to crush the Muslim forces which are vigorously opposing the American agenda in Afghanistan. The artificially increased involvement of India in Afghanistan in the name of development activities is also one of such tools. The US hi-ups are very well aware of the fact that they won’t be able to sustain and prolong their so-called hold in Afghanistan and very soon the USA will have to wind up from there. No America in Afghanistan means the beginning of a new life in Afghanistan; a life full of peace and prosperity. The comforting shadows of this new life would not remain limited to Afghanistan; it would be surely good news for Pakistan also. The two countries shall be able to strengthen the ties between them to form a much stronger Islamic society. Such a new scenario would not be very much pleasing and comforting for the US led Anti-Islamic lobbies. That is the reason that the US is trying its best to provide India all possible probabilities of seeping into the very foundations of Afghanistan. Sometimes it stresses upon the need of free trade route between India and Afghanistan and sometimes it offers the Indian construction companies to take part in the rebuilding of Afghanistan. All these efforts are nothing but a struggle to provide a breathing space to India in Afghanistan. The presence of India in Afghanistan would mean another phase of devastation and destruction leading to limitless anarchy. The brave people of Afghanistan shall never allow another atheist country to rule them for another decade or more.
It makes no difference to the people of Afghanistan whether the western world calls them extremists, militants, fundamentalists, Jihaddis, Taliban or the terrorists. They are the warriors of Islam and they would keep on fighting to their last breath against all those forces which are harmful to Islam. Still there is sufficient time for the USA to reconsider its policies in Afghanistan. It must be kept in mind that all roads leading to the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan pass through Pakistan. If USA is truly in love with Afghanistan and desires a long lasting peace in the region, it must not try to replace itself with India .Be it the snake or the scorpion; both are poisonous; it is the most wise thing to be kept in mind.
The writer is a Pakistan based analyst on defence and strategic affairs