US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad expressed pessimism about the ongoing intra-Afghan talks, saying violence in Afghanistan remains too high, and the two sides remain far apart on even basic issues. He also warned US education could end for Afghan women.
Violence has been on the upswing, at least a bit, in Afghanistan. This is not simple to resolve, however, because the Afghan government and Taliban are both blaming the other side for this, and with recent Afghan airstrikes killing dozens of civilians, it’s hard to take their word for it that everything is the Taliban’s fault.
The pushes for a mutually acceptable ceasefire would be key for solving a lot of this, and President Ghani reiterated his desire for a ceasefire at the UN General Assembly. The exact terms are still not clear, but both sides seem to be pushing ceasefires that they view as more beneficial to them.
That’s a lot riding on these talks, with everyone angling for a base structure that they believe will lead them to a satisfactory end. In the meantime, any ceasefire of even modest success would seemingly benefit both sides for the talks, and benefit the Afghan public even more.
Some in the Afghan government seem to be hoping they can keep the US in the war by selling the Taliban as totally intractable and unwilling to consider a deal. To that end, some are trying to push this narrative by making the offers harder for the Taliban to accept.
“He also warned US education could end for Afghan women.”
If that doesn’t make you chuckle, nothing will.
This indeed takes the cake!
First we showered Afghan tribes with weapons — to fight godless Soviets. And horrible Soviets instituted education for girls — a real one. They went to University, studies abroad, and one became a general. She was still a general when US troops arrived.
But after we encouraged tribal takeover, and sent in an Army of devout Taliban (students of religion), and extinguished all the progress made — then US remembered girls and women.
Now that our dependency — government in Kabul — refuses to let US troops go, we are bemoaning education for girls?
We rejoiced when Taliban dismantled all the vestiges of Soviet influence — women walking without veil, women working, school and university for women — all gone.
Then — turning around in a dime, we chastised Taliban for harsh treatment of women! And poured millions into “education for girls”, money that disappeared along the way to Kabul between our contractors and Kabul government.
In the end — a guy with a can of paint and brush showed up, spent the paint and left. The schools toilets and water were beyond the budget. We could not return education nowhere near Soviet era standards. Because it was — and still is, just politics.