Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Can Negotiation with Taliban Establish a Permanent Peace?

Going by what transpired of the Afghan premiership and its western allies have commonly comprehended that negotiated settlement with the fanatically purist Talibs are indeed for a cooperative path out of the morass after ten years of often directionless drift and Karzai supports their recommendation for peace talks with the Taliban.

Considering the peace process with the Taliban to establish a permanent peace in Afghanistan, today the British Ambassador to Afghanistan, William Patey in an interview with Tolo stated that Taliban have no option but to negotiate with the Afghan government for launching a permanent peace.

He further added that the war will only bring distraction to both the government and Taliban and that the Taliban will not reach to their very set goals by bloodshed. He also added that the Taliban still have not realized the fact that they are not capable to defeat the current Afghan government or the future. By continuing the bloodshed, they will only witness violence and backwardness.

While talking about peace talks efforts with the Taliban, he also highlighted the worst face of corruption in Afghan government which he said is the main hurdle towards stability and progress and that if the government does not take a serious action against it, it will paralyze the government and lead the country towards further backwardness.

According to his statement, the Taliban are no more capable to continue the war against U.S and Afghan government and that they need to seek negotiation with the U.S and Afghan government for a permanent peace. But what the Taliban say is that they don't need to hold peace talks, neither with the government of Afghanistan nor with U.S. They are in strong belief that the war will automatically end if they continue their operation for two or three more years. They believe that they have already defeated the U.S. in Afghanistan.

Keeping in mind the current haphazard security situation in the country, the Afghan national army doesn't seem to have the capacity to follow the footprint of U.S forces after their withdrawal. Since the security responsibility of some parts of the country has been transferred to the ANA, the security situation has gone worst. According to reports, the Afghan National Army still vastly relies on U.S forces for each operation and gunfire.

It is also no secret that the West wants a way out of Afghanistan and the process is on the way. The success is thus oscillatory and it is yet to be seen whether the West could win by this process, subtly fomenting discord among Taliban in order to achieve the good objective. It is clear that neither the Taliban nor ISAF are currently in a position to win the war in Afghanistan. What is more significant is that the militants enjoy the upper hand right now not the Afghan government and its international allies.

With the West's possible admission that the best it can get in Afghanistan is a stalemate followed by the foreign forces withdrawal, coercive violence may reappear at some later stage where the defected Afghan segments may join hands with the war-lords. If that happens, Afghanistan and the region as a whole could be back to square once again.

Washington principle is conniving on the possibility of talks with the exhausted battle sections of Taliban, coupled by a surge in allied forces offensive against those unwilling to come to the negotiation table. Above all, Afghanistan is currently steeped in various challenges of security, corruption and the growing rate of insurgents.

The peace talks with the Taliban seem to be making another war in the country. While the government of Afghanistan is talking about the negotiation, they must contemplate their challenges on the ground and ahead. Otherwise the country would once again become a safe haven for Taliban.