Dynamics of U S Involvement in Afghanistan
Background
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was sharply denounced by the US president Jimmy Carter in 1979.The carter administration had enacted economic sanctions and trade embargoes against the Soviet Union. It called for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Later on it also provided aid to the Afghan insurgents. Soviet forces stayed in Afghanistan for about ten years which was not easy for Soviet Union as it proved to be a painful adventure for them.
However, Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev decided to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan as most of the countries of the world and even the UNO had criticized USSR for its act of invasion. The Soviet efforts to consolidate the power and strength of People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan did not help in the survival of the communist government in Afghanistan. Various rebel factions were becoming strong and united against the government of Mohammad Najibullah. The USA, Pakistan, China along with other Arabian countries had actively supported the Mujahideens. In the late 1980’s Gorbachev had already promised to the people of Soviet Union and other East European countries for openness and restructuring. The epoch making changes in USSR in particular and socialist world in general, growing international support to the Mujahideen, stagnant economy of Soviet Union, internal weaknesses of the existing communist government of Afghanistan, demand for democracy in the socialist world and realization of Gorbachev of the need to reduce the unnecessary Soviet expenditure in international involvement in order to improve its economy had compelled the Soviet leadership to withdraw from Afghanistan. Finally the representatives of USSR, the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan signed the Geneva Accord on 14th April 1988 which proved to be a framework for the departure of the Soviet forces. The process of withdrawal was completed by February 1989.
This was the time when intense power conflict was taking place in Soviet Union between the supporters of Gorbachev and the hardliners in the ruling communist party. After the failure of the coup against Gorbachev done by the hardliners in 1991 in Soviet Union, its subsequent leaders decided to cut aid to their Afghan allies. After some time Soviet Union itself collapsed which had a severe impact on Afghanistan. Afghanistani government under Najibullah had lost the ability to govern. Najibullah was removed from power and mujahideen took over Kabul in 1992 by Peshawar Accords.
U.S, Mujahideen and 9/11
The approach of USA towards the mujahidin was guided by the interest of cold war conflicts between the two super powers. Anti — Soviet mujahideen rebels were provided direct or indirect support by different sources and programs such as ‘Operation Cyclone’. These forces were also supported by other countries of the world who were close to the U S during the cold war era. However, US policy towards mujahideen changed significantly after the September 11 attacks in 2001. On this day nineteen hijackers from various Arab countries took control of four American commercial aircrafts and flew them into important buildings in the US including the twin towers. In this attack about three thousand people were killed. This incidence is compared with the British burning of Washington, DC in 1814 and Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. After this attack US foreign policy changed dramatically towards Afghanistan. US along with its allies started a global war on terror. A military operation under the code name ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ was launched against the suspected terrorists in which most of them belonged to the group of Al-Qaeda and Taliban regime of Afghanistan.
U S invasion of Afghanistan
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and their forces stayed there for more than twenty years. In these years they tried to dismantle al-Qaeda and deprive the Taliban from the seat of power in Afghanistan. The conflict between The Taliban and the US forces resulted in the killing of tens of thousands of people and displacement of millions. Americans were searching Osama bin Laden who was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attack on US. Osama however, was killed after 10 years search in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011 in an operation known as Operation Neptune Spear which was carried out by CIA. The invasion had certainly weakened the terrorist forces in Afghanistan but later on they managed to re-emerge in Afghanistan. They again started regaining much of its influence which they had lost. It is believed that the US involvement in the Iraq war in 2003 and the regime of the western backed liberal leader Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan provided opportunities to the Taliban and Al-Qaida to slowly regain lost ground.
Positive and Negative aspects of US control on Afghanistan
During the US control of Afghanistan for about 20 years Afghanistan’s economy improved in the area of health care, education and overall quality of life particularly in big cities. People developed respect for democracy, modernisation and women’s education. They understood the importance of Constitution and liberalism. Many people, however believe that in this period Pakistan provided help and strength to Taliban militants which resulted in the rise of violence in the country.
Again Taliban
After 20 years of US and NATO control, once again Taliban have come to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. They have come to power after a deal between the US and the Taliban. The Taliban’s coming to power, have raised many doubts about the past and future of Afghanistan? People want to know whether Taliban have changed their way of thinking and are they really going to be instrumental in the process of social change? These questions are not simple to answer. Only future will prove it.
