Kabul administration should avoid further delay and excuses!

For nearly a decade the Kabul administration officials have been using the slogans of peace as a political tool. Until a year ago, they considered themselves strong proponents of peace and formed various councils and committees for it. However, when the groundwork was laid for true peace — the Qatar process began and the roadmap for ending the occupation and restoring peace was communicated — Arg and specifically Ashraf Ghani changed his tone in accordance with the local proverb (when the garden matured, the gardener broke down). All of a sudden he began talking about red lines, twenty year achievements and other controversial issues and exerted his best efforts in order to obstruct and delay the process.

The prisoner exchange process was cited as an important condition for the launch of the negotiation process. The Arg officials repeatedly created hurdles for it too but fortunately, the process was largely a success. Lately, Arg officials had tied their hopes to the democratic nominee Joe Biden, that if he were to win and be elected as president of United States, he might scrap the Qatar agreement and thus the US troop presence in Afghanistan would extend and the peace process thwarted.

The officials residing in Arg and those who see the termination of occupation as downfall for their political ascension, had until yesterday kept their hopes alive in this fantasy. Therefore, they delayed the implementation of prisoners release process so intra-Afghan negotiations would not start until the US election results were out, hoping that if the democrats won the elections, their policy towards Afghanistan might change.

But Joe Biden stated in an interview with CBS news that not matter what, he would withdraw US forces from Afghanistan. He said that the domestic issues of Afghanistan were not important to him but protecting the lives of American servicemen were. Joe Biden’s remarks show that if he was elected, he would remain committed to the Qatar agreement and follow the roadmap it has laid out.

Joe Biden’s words changed the pleasant dreams of supporters of the invaders into a nightmare. Hence, the time has come for them to put an end to their hopes of perpetuating war and occupation for their personal interests. Rather they should strengthen the demand of the nation and say no to invasion. They should stop creating obstacles in the way of intra-Afghan negotiation and avoid further delay and excuses, because they have not been left with another option other than to accept ground realities.