His chief rival Abdullah Abdullah had challenged Ghani and leveled serious allegations of voter fraud
The voter turnout in the election stood at 20%, which is the lowest since 2001
In March, when the Taliban and Kabul regime were supposed to sit down for a talk about the prisoner release on both sides, Ghani rejected the release of the Taliban prisoners in Afghan custody citing the reason that the deal with the Taliban was made by the Americans, not him
The real reason was that he was using his recalcitrance as a bargaining chip for his presidency to be recognised as officially legitimate, not with the Afghan people but with his real electorate; Washington
Both Ghani and Abdullah held ceremonies on the same day declaring themselves as the Afghan president
But as the international community, which is a code word for Washington and more specifically, Zalmay Khalilzad, General Austin Miller, and a bunch of other diplomats inside the US embassy in Kabul, showed some support for his presidency rather than for Abdullah’s, Ghani announced that he would release the Taliban prisoners
Then the Taliban and Ghani led Kabul regime did meet and the talks hit a snag
The original deal between the US and the Taliban had included the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners in Kabul custody
But Ghani refused to release them wholesale citing logistical constraints, arguing that it would have to be a phased release
Then the Taliban wanted their senior leaders released first but Ghani refused and said that those who orchestrated large scale attacks in Afghanistan wouldn’t be released
That is when a dead end was reached in the talks
As a result, the Taliban shut their mouths and opened their arsenal
Ghani’s aim was not some moral principle when he came up with one after another excuse not to honour the deal signed between the US and the Taliban
His real motive was the safeguarding of his presidency, which was still in abeyance
No official recognition has been extended to date
Ghani is playing his age old shenanigans and is continuing to use the prisoner release as a bargaining chip
He is behaving sort of like a low level petty clerk in a government office who likes to charge a small fictional fee after something has received the approval of the higher officer
So, the Taliban have resumed doing what they do best; violence
They are talking not with their tongues but with their guns
They have ramped up their attacks on the Afghan soldiers
Ghani is directly responsible for those innocent deaths because he wants to drag this on as long as it takes to ensure his presidency becomes official
If the cost is the butchering of Afghan soldiers at the hands of the Taliban, so be it
We should recall that the deal between the Americans and the Taliban is for not allowing Afghan soil to be used by some foreign terrorist group to plan and launch attacks against the west, primarily the US
And also, while the withdrawal of foreign forces is underway, American and coalition forces are not to be attacked by the Taliban
The Afghan army soldiers are not exempted from Taliban violence
They are not the sacrosanct ones, the Americans are
The problem is that Ghani knows this full well
He knows that his forces and his fellow Afghans will pay the price in blood and whatever treasure is left
But he is willing to pay that price for the sake of his presidency
By attacking the Afghans, the Taliban are not irking the Americans at all, who continue to give ritualistic and symbolic condemnations
It is noteworthy that this is the first time that the US military in Kabul has refused to release specific data on Taliban attacks, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations between the US and the Taliban
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has been using this data since 2018 to track the levels and locations of violence in the country
But not this year
That should speak volumes about what the Americans are not concerned about; the Taliban attacks on Afghans
And again, Ghani knows this and he continues to look the other way only to become the president of a country whose citizens he is instrumental in killing
Now, Abdullah has hinted at some “tentative” deal with Ghani
Once again, the Americans would have to come up with some formula to keep both the rivals happy
Last time, a new office was created for Abdullah called the Chief Executive of Afghanistan
That work of art was by John Kerry, the US Secretary of State at the time
This time it is going to be “Executive Prime Minister”
Until that happens, more Afghan army soldiers are going to die
It is a race against time
And, I might add, – if history is any lesson – Ghani’s days are numbered too
| Date: | 05-May-2020 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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