There is a saying in Czech folklore; confusion always helps the oppressor because the confused state of mind of the oppressed cannot understand the gravity of oppression. One of the most important meetings referring to the Afghan conflict took place on July 23, 2021, and was attended by almost all NATO members including the United States of America, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
The Communiqué after this meeting has once again shown confusion faced by the defeated western world in Afghanistan. The Communiqué indicates four possibilities—the western world is confused about what to do next after defeating the 20-year war; the western world wants to confuse the Afghan people about their future; the western world wants face-saving regarding lofty claims of providing human rights, women rights and democracy to Afghan soil; or the western world wants to come back to Afghanistan under any possible pretext or creating justification in the future.
The special representatives and envoys of the United States of America, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, Norway, and the United Kingdom met in Rome on July 22, 2021, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the developments in Afghanistan peace negotiations after the latest round of high-level talks in Doha on July 17-18, 2021. After the meeting, the western world in Communiqué said that it is deeply concerned about the high levels of violence, the Taliban’s military offense, and the number of reported serious human rights abuses and violations.
The Communiqué calls on the Taliban to end their military offensive strategy, and on both the Afghan government and the Taliban to engage meaningfully in the peace process. Would it not be better if this peace process had been done 20 years ago between the US and the Taliban? If then peace talks and negotiations with the Taliban were not the solution then what could have changed now?
The Communiqué says that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and NATO-allied countries do not support any government in Afghanistan imposed through military force. Today, NATO, the US, and allied ISAF countries accepted that a war was not the solution in Afghanistan so who is responsible for killing over 140,000 people and ruining Afghanistan for 20 years?
The Communiqué says the Western world expresses full support to an inclusive Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process with full and meaningful participation of women that leads to a just and durable political settlement. Is it not again poking its nose into Afghanistan’s internal affairs? Just recently, President Biden and Khalilzad at several instances said that let Afghans decide their own future and the kind of government they wish.
In the Communiqué, western countries demanded a Constitution ensuring women’s rights, human rights, etc. One should remember that the Taliban during the entire peace talks in Doha told several times that they do not accept the western form of democracy and man-made constitution and their constitution is the Holy Quran and they will run Afghanistan under Shariah law while the West still wants a combination of Islamic Shariah and western democracy. It is evident that the Rome Communiqué has created doubts about what the western world actually wants?
This game of doubting the Taliban’s viewpoint for the future of Afghanistan is creating misunderstandings among stakeholders and spreading confusion. Moreover, there are uncertainties among the Taliban leadership about the United States’ strategy towards Afghanistan.
Instead of providing clarity, the Rome Communique adds to the ambiguity. The Commedia dell’arte of the day is that the Taliban have acquired resources and skills by fighting against the NATO alliance and have only the option to run Afghanistan by force. Now the Western world wants them to govern but with western democracy while the Taliban from day one has a single point agenda of running Afghanistan under Islamic laws. Will western experts continue to tell Afghans that their rights are infringed by the Taliban and they must not accept the Taliban’s government because the Taliban do not follow western standards of democracy and human rights?