News & Comment
No to Negotiations to Legitimize Continued US Presence in Afghanistan

News:

On June 12 2018, Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General, Qamar Javed Bajwa, paid a visit to Afghanistan for more talks. Bajwa held a meeting with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani during his Kabul visit, as mentioned in an Inter-Services Public Relations press statement. The COAS congratulated Afghan authorities on recent peace initiatives, especially in respect of the holy month of Ramadan and wished that those steps gained more of permanence, ultimately leading towards an enduring peace. Talking to Commander RSM (Resolute Support Mission) General John Nicholson, the COAS said that Pakistan desires that the US/ NATO forces succeed and leave behind a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, the ISPR mentioned.

Comment:

America’s defeat and humiliation in Afghanistan at the hands of few thousand sincere Mujahideen is as clear like the sun shining in a clear blue sky. Despite continuous US military and political efforts, Washington has been unsuccessful in forcing the Afghan resistance, predominately led by Afghan Taliban, to accept the US installed puppet regime and take some share in ruling. The US has been using the military leadership of Pakistan to use its leverage upon the Afghan resistance to bring them to talks. These talks are for a US sponsored political solution for Afghanistan which will legitimize a permanent US presence in Afghanistan.  However, the US has not achieved that which it desperately needs. This desperation was apparent in Trump’s very first tweet of 2018, in which he declared, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.” This tweet  intimates that despite their best efforts, the political and military leadership of Pakistan has not been able to fulfill US objectives.

Yet, the political and military leaderships of Pakistan continue their efforts to fulfill US aims.  They persist in trying to secure a political cover for the US presence even whilst deceiving the Muslims by complaining about the US granting India unprecedented access in Afghanistan and undermining Pakistan’s security. Indeed, there is no dispute that Afghan soil has been used by India and other anti-Pakistan elements under American patronage and the recent killing of a prominent leader of the malignant TTP inside Afghanistan in a drone attack has confirmed this realty. So if the political and military leadership were sincere to securing Pakistan, they would have never worked and supported the US in its efforts to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan. Rather than openly expressing desire for the success of the crusaders, a sincere leadership would have joined hands with the Afghan resistance to expel US from this region, decisively and comprehensively.

Peace and security can never be achieved by supporting US efforts. It can only be ensured by expelling the US from our region, the root cause of instability and destruction in our region. It is regrettable that the COAS of the world’s sixth largest army, equipped with a nuclear arsenal, openly expresses the desire for US success, which is a shared success for India. Peace and security can never be achieved by strengthening the enemies of Islam and Muslims. No, by no means. Peace and security is only secured by confronting the enemies. Allah (swt) said,

﴿فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ﴾

“So whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you” [Al-Baqarah:194]. Thus the Khaleefah of the coming Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood will never express desire for US success in Afghanistan, let alone work for it actively. Instead, he will comply completely with the commands of Allah swt and order the Muslim army and sincere Mujahideen to expel the enemy from our soil.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Shahzad Shaikh
Deputy to the official Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Pakistan