Amid all the fuss about peace and reconciliation process, the Taliban, on the 23rd anniversary of withdrawal of Red Army from Afghanistan issued a statement cautioning the US of the same fate. "Selfish Americans must learn a lesson from… the Russian defeat and no longer fight a meaningless battle with zealous Afghans and take their invading forces out as soon as possible," the Afghan Taliban said in an emailed statement to media.
The statement establishes the fact that the Taliban are eyeing gaining partial (if not full) power in Afghanistan after 2014, a year set for complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Also, the peace negotiation process seems more symbolic than a real process - a process through which Taliban could be given their share in Afghan politics and government.
No other option remains available to US and its allies as their decade long efforts have failed to triumph against Taliban.
The Taliban have been cajoled into peace talks is being seen as vital improvement but who knows what Taliban intentions are? The security transition must, now, be completed at a faster pace than planned as the US has announced it is ending its combat mission in Afghanistan by mid 2013 and France is withdrawing its full forces by the end of the same year.
This is why Taliban see their future bright and their efforts as result-giving. "Today's American occupying invaders and their coalition allies are facing the same future the Russian invaders faced in the past," the Taliban statement added, referring to the NATO-led war now dragging into its eleventh year.
It is a matter of great concern that security of Afghan people is being handed to a shaky government that has lost trust both at home and abroad, is immensely corrupt and have little writ outside the capital Kabul.
It is a repeat of what USSR did twenty-three years back that led to the horrific civil war paving the way for Taliban to gain control in Afghanistan. US withdrawal from Afghanistan largely resembles to that of USSR and Taliban know they will return to power.