Last week, Afghanistan celebrated the 25th year of former Soviet soldiers from Afghanistan. Right 25 years later, forty other countries, combating with Taliban and al-Qaeda for over 12 years, have decided to pull out. The withdrawal of last of Soviet soldiers from the Hairatan border brought huge joy among Mojaheedins who viewed themselves as the winner of ten years-long war. Western countries also giggled from the depth of their heart of dealing a major blow to communist ideology and paving the way for its ultimate collapse. Millions of Afghans who also viewed the communist system as existential threat to their values and religious beliefs also celebrated the day.

But the enjoyment did not last long. Mojaheedin who fought against Soviet force continued combating against the government of Dr. Najib who was viewed as patronage of Soviet interest in Afghanistan. Despite his continuous calls for peace talks with leaders of different Jihadi groups who indeed had different source of funding, none welcomed the peace negotiation with government of Dr. Najib whose regime almost gave up sponsoring the communist ideology. According to an individual who worked as presidential guard and presently working as driver in an International NGO, congregational praying was held for guards. All those for getting the satisfaction on Mojaheedin did not prevent them to avoid collapsing his strong government.

Based on reports, BBC Persian recently published, after withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Soviet Union left 2500 tanks and armored vehicles and 500 airplanes and helicopters which of course could play decisive role against ground fighters. In his speeches which are widely available, Dr. Najib openly warned people of reemergence of chaos and tragedy or even the open interference of intelligence of neighboring countries which almost all were realized as he foresaw. But drunk of Soviet pullout, Mojaheedin leaders did not come short and marched into the capital in order to oust the government and establish their own government. But the situation turned in a manner that presently people feel nostalgic about government of Dr. Najib.

Anyhow, what has passed is now a history but the withdrawal, collapse of Dr. Najib government and subsequent consequences are like a huge library that we should furnish our political consciousness otherwise a similar period is repeatable.

The first thing we Afghans should notice that the government may not last long against rising bloodshed irrespective of our current military establishment. The regime of Dr. Najib was also strong from all angles. It had mighty air force that could play strategic role in power calculation. It had armored vehicles, tanks and equipped security establishment that could stand against a strong foreign force. As witnessed, all those arms vanished. Presently Afghan security forces wishes to have small number of those arms.

Certainly, when the Mojaheedin leaders did not compromise and kept instigating people against his government, there remained only two choices. First one was to keep murdering people who were assuming that they were fighting for the sake of Allah almighty and defending their country and its values. As many dictators are doing so around the world. They fight and kill their people only to prolong their rule and ensure the authority of their family members. Generally, in such antagonism, thousands of people lose their lives as history displays in various countries. The ultimate result is the complete collapse of social, economic and political infrastructure which imposes miseries to residents for decades ahead.

The second choice was to give up everything to avoid bloodshed what Dr. Najid did. He did not resist against common civilians who had no idea that Jihad was over and they are fighting against their own brothers that also with money from enemies shielded in friends’ veil.  He even did not escape the country and sought refuge to any other country. He remained to prove that he was right and people mistakenly branded him as stooge of Soviet, preferring Soviet interests to national interests. He proved that many Islamic countries were just shedding crocodile tears. Even if they support different groups, those supports are not made from the angle of defending the Islamic principles rather from finding a place for their own feet. Years of instability in the country revealed through intention of the so-called our Islamic allies. It was uncovered that they are not for better the bear of the north. If during communist era, people were graved with trail by bulldozers, Mojaheedin wrote memorandum by blood of innocent children of Afshar. Meanwhile no Islamic countries showed opposition rather tried to intensify the communal fighting by sending arms to different antagonist groups.

So, presently government is fighting a far dangerous group maybe worse than any Jihadi groups. Taliban has a very well-defined ideology which tastes better for common people. The present government is not stronger than the regime of Dr. Najib. President Karzai also does not seem much resolved than him. If our foreign allies stop supporting the government, the chance of present will decline tremendously. Similar to soldiers of regime of Najib, part of Afghan security forces have doubt whether their fight against their Muslim brothers are religiously justifiable or not?

It is highly possible if international community withdraws completely, Taliban militants and its al-Qaeda ally ratchet up pressure aimed for utter collapse of the government. In such case, the bloodshed will increase visibly. In such case, security forces will fight for democracy to which they do not believe much. But Taliban and al-Qaeda fight for an ideology for which they even commit suicide. On one side, the government considers bloodshed as obnoxious while on the other hand considers it as sacrifice for the sake of Allah Almighty.

In such a scenario, no one should be much optimistic about the progress of democratic system. Thus, learning from the past, Afghan officials should not commit the mistakes of previous regimes and never fuel xenophobia instead develop a constructive relation with them in order to ensure peace and stability.