By Matai M. Muon,
Aug 29, 2021 — Afghanistan has had a turbulent, and often disruptive system of governance for several decades dating back to the Soviet-Afghan war. Others would find comfort in situating it even further during the monarchical reign of Amanullah Khan. This essay aims at providing some information on who the losers are. In the last two weeks, there have been international outpourings with a focus on the winners; the Taliban. However, in a situation like this, winners create losers – unobvious losers for that matter. Before delving into the flesh of the matter, a brief history of events leading to the contemporary realities in today’s Afghanistan is crucial.
Brief Timeline of Events in Afghanistan
Afghanistan was a much better place in the 60s than it is today. The country was a shining example of modernity mixed with rich socio-cultural values with limited outside interruption or in what Huntington would call the “clash of civilizations.”
A documentary on the history of Afghanistan in the 60s speaks explicitly on how open and progressive the country was to the world. It notes:
“In 1964, the Afghan constitution gave women a right to vote, allowed them to mix freely with men in cinemas, and Kabul was full of Jazz, and different sort of orchestras, an epitome of western, urbane and liberal haven. Although a much dimmer picture appeared in rural, conservative Afghanistan where Islamic ideals thrived at the cost of women emancipation, life was generally much better…”
The clear-cut differences would motivate a popular revolt creating a rift between the elitist Kabul Afghans and the rural, poor, and conservative country folks leading to the 1973 revolt inspired by communism. The monarchical rule was effectively ended. It was a brutal change of guards – by the Spring of 1978, the royal family was murdered in a style that nearly looked like the French Revolution. A new government was born flanked by communist-inspired radical ideology. These reforms rose against the Islamic fundamentalist concept of life. They would target Islamic scholars, teachers, and imams and by 1979 amidst a growing anti-communist sentiment, a Mujahedeen-led Holy Wars resulted. Smelling a rat, the Soviets responded rapidly with a show of force sending military planes for a whole week nonstop to intimidate the new guys in town.
The United States watched on greedily while it engaged in proxy on the side of the Mujahideen; Afghanistan had become another epicenter of the Cold War. Employing their terror tactics and with the artillery and technical support from the US, the new guys captured Kabul and by 1986, the Soviets withdrew citing “tactical and economic expenses.” A humanitarian crisis brewed on the horizon displacing ten of thousands of Afghans to Pakistan and Iran. Not so long after, the refugee camps became an indoctrination ground birthing the Taliban in the process. By April 24, 1992, the Mujahedeen succeeded, took over the Presidential Palace in a show of might that created a human rights disaster with women having their breasts cut off, while others gave birth in public taxis as they were being watched.
In 1994, a new force emerged, trained, and clothed in the refugee camps by Pakistan, the Taliban standing for “students” ran through the provinces for two years until they reached Kabul in 1996 where they pulled out the President, Mohamed Najibullah who hid in a UN Compound, killed him, and hanged his body on a lamppost. Terror had returned to Kabul in the most despicable imagery ever witnessed in her tumultuous evolution. With its project goal of having a “pure Islamic state” the Taliban would build one of the most terrific places for human rights, restricting women and girls’ fundamental rights to belong – banning films, TVs and alcoholic joints dragging Kabul backwards. Women and girls had to be escorted by a male while shopping and education would be redefined with a focus on Islamic concepts and fundamentals as advanced in the Quran. The United States awestruck by this change of tact looked on but by September 11, 2001, it was obvious that the US had made an erroneous calculus; the Taliban-trained terrorist Osama Bin-Laden threw its bombs-laden planes on the US soil.
President Bush Jnr in the speech on November 6th, 2001, dubbed “You are Either with Us or Against Us’ ‘ responded with anger of arms and the boundaries had been redrawn. Twenty years later, the US, exhausted by logistical investments and feeling hopeless about the meaning of her continued support to Afghanistan, reached a deal with the Taliban in September 2020. The plans of withdrawal could not be completed smoothly and by August 15, 2021, the Taliban took over Kabul by a barrel of arms in a lightning blitz. While a modicum of diplomatic sense seems to be the case, the Taliban and many other groups operating in this theatre of madness are difficult to trust. On August 27th, the Islamic State, a more radical group comparatively speaking, exploded bombs and opened fire at the Kabul International Airport amidst desperation and immense confusion killing 13 US servicemen and 162 others according to Aljazeera.
Who are the Ultimate Losers?
As discussed in the brief timeline of events, Afghanistan has changed many hands in her evolving history. Since the early 70s when the Soviets manned the country, nobody has been held accountable for the worst of crimes imaginable. The country’s strategic geography and vast mineral resources has attracted both the superpowers (Russia, US), the emerging powers (India, China, Pakistan, Iran) into a theatre of diplomatic contestations. The ultimate losers are the Afghan people – particularly the women and girls. It is not the US purse or the deposed Afghan government for that matter. In the days following the capture of Kabul, desperate scenes of poor Afghans populating the airport reminded keen observers of the Saigon hours when the US decided to withdraw from Vietnam. In the long history of interventionist geopolitics, the end always does not justify the means, the poorest and most vulnerable groups who always occupy the margin pay the price of mediocrity and elitist power wrangle.
As Daron Acemoglu of “Why Nations Fail” recently revealed, the US’ has once again lost its top-down state-building strategy in Afghanistan. And for every failure of interventionist geopolitics comes a heavy price tag. The Afghan women and girls who have suffered for so long under the brutal tactics of the Taliban are now living in an uncertain future; a hopeless twist that none of them had anticipated. Evidence of torture and repugnance is already emerging with even international female journalists being trained on how to report in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Decades of progress on women freedom in Afghanistan could be lost under the Taliban and the charts might look worse than would be expected. But as Lara Williams of Bloomberg urged, the West cannot allow the progress that’s been gained over the course of two decades to be wiped out in just a matter of days. Additionally, it is important to note that Afghanistan, despite the western presence for two decades remains a harrowing place for women and girls with the latest figure on the Gender Inequality Index placing Afghanistan on 169th out of 189 countries.
Years of unruly foreign occupation has always created a false hope for the Afghan women and their children. However, this moment is particularly an optimistic one as a vast majority of Afghans from different walks of life support continued women emancipation, including access to girl child education and progressive, gender-sensitive, and non-discriminatory labor laws. The story of Malala reflects the stories of many of these women and girls however, with the Taliban rule, it is extremely complicated to foresee how things will work out.
What Should Happen?
The western nations should build a post-western Afghanistan plan that speaks to the values protecting women and girls. They should ensure that progressive legal reforms such as the Elimination of Violence Against Women law (2009) are protected. The conditions laid down by the UK Prime Minister as a matter of policy for future recognition of the Taliban rule should be exacted and deliberated upon. In the meantime, the international community with the leadership of the UN must confront this situation with the force it deserves. The UN as the only platform of global repute should provide timely engagement preceded by diplomatic meaning making and humanitarian programming that promotes best practices in human rights terms. The human rights communities on the other hand, should develop a prompt, and deliberative human rights strategy for the Afghan people with a special focus on its most vulnerable group – the Afghan women and girls. This strategy should have a short-term focus that ensures human rights violations are promptly and timely documented while a medium and long-term plan should include prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Matai Muon reads International Studies at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi. He is a World Bank Award-Winning Blogger and Research on Social Justice Issues About South Sudan and the World. He can be reached at mataimuon@yahoo.com
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