We must know that a developed and peaceful Afghanistan will never be in the interest of the United States.
QUETTA: These elections in Afghanistan are the first attempt in Afghan history to transfer power from one elected president to his successor. The new government will be taking charge of the country as the Nato forces are nearer to completing their full withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Many Afghan issues are still under the process machine. One of them is the Bilateral Security Agreement between Afghanistan and the US, which will play a vital role in Afghan security, aid and development of the infant Afghan democratic state.
Former president Hamid Karzai’s stance had always been that this agreement will be a threat to the sovereignty of Afghanistan. Throughout most of his tenure, he insisted that there were no Taliban or al Qaeda sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Moreover, Karzai never missed a chance to point a finger to the Pakistani side.
On the other hand, Western US allies and the Western media were busy using every effort to pressure Karzai into signing the much-needed strategic agreement. The Afghan media also tried to propagate their version. But Afghan government laws prohibited the media organisations via a blackout.
The Western media draws a foggy image of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Nato forces. Several opinion-makers believe that Karzai was being an egoist by not signing the bilateral agreement with the US government.
Afghanistan is a neutral Asian state with a characteristic history. Its land are rich in natural resources, it is strategically located and is a corridor to the neighbouring Central Asia.
Even though the bilateral agreement has its positive aspects, it has its downsides too. Pakistan, Iran, Russia, India and China are not willing to see Afghanistan as a continuing war zone used by the US military personnel. These regional countries and powers are scared of US presence in Afghanistan, as the US is already blamed for interference in Ukraine, Syria, Turkey and most of the nation’s stuck in Arab Spring. Therefore, US presence in Afghanistan, as a result of this agreement, will cause similar allegations to pour in from the neighbouring countries and might just hinder the economic expansion of China and India. These regional countries will not sit idle upon witnessing American presence in Afghanistan.
We must know that a developed and peaceful Afghanistan will never be in the interest of the United States. And a young Afghan army, in a land which has several international contracts for mining and enjoys peaceful relations with neighbours, can never be better than an Afghan territory under the semi invasion of the US — for the US, at least.
Malik Achakzai
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2014.
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