In response to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement that U.S. troops with be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Jordanian Broadcasting Authority director Saleh Al-Qallab wrote that the withdrawal will bring destruction upon Afghanistan, for it will leave the country at the mercy of the terrorists and in a state of increasing chaos.
The following are excerpts from his article:[1]
"If the withdrawal of the American forces from Afghanistan indeed comes to pass, as Barack Obama has announced, this will lead to the same results as the U.S. withdrawal from this [country in the early 1990s]...
"Following that withdrawal, Afghanistan was abandoned to its fate and to the mujahideen, who quarreled over the booty until the Taliban quickly showed up. With the help of a foreign intelligence [apparatus, i.e. the Pakistani intelligence]... [the Taliban] established an administration so backward that even the Middle Ages never saw its like. [It also] fostered Al-Qaeda, under the command of Osama bin Laden, which spread terror across the globe and made a special target of certain Western countries...
"But if the American forces indeed withdraw... when [Afghanistan] is still in this tragic state, with the Taliban able to reach any target it wants and Al-Qaeda still in existence and able to hit any target it wants, whether in [Afghanistan] or elsewhere – the situation is bound to return to what it was [before the Americans came]. And in this situation, we will surely see a recurrence of the tragedies that occurred following [America's] first withdrawal in the early 1990s, only in a more catastrophic form.
"The Americans have research institutes and professional intelligence services that are [highly] capable. [The U.S.] is a state with institutions, where no administration can overturn what the previous administration has done. Therefore, they must not withdraw from a country when it is they themselves who have brought upon it all the problems it is facing. [They must withdraw] only after guaranteeing its stability, and after a strong regime is established there that can protect [the country] from all those who wish to harm it.
"Withdrawing at the present time will be a grave crime, for the situation in [Afghanistan] has not yet stabilized. [President] Hamid Karzai is up to his ears in corruption, and cannot even protect his own palace, which is a permanent target for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
"Osama bin Laden himself was not [the source] of all the threats facing the U.S. and other countries. This is evident from the fact that his killing has not rid Afghanistan of the Taliban, and has not rid the world of Al-Qaeda. The inspired leader is gone, yet the global terror network remains. This means that any withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan, whether gradual or abrupt, will lead to an increase in violence and will make [the situation in] Afghanistan worse than it was in the early 1990s, turning the country into one big terrorist camp [full of] constantly ticking bombs.
"The strange thing is that the security situation in Iraq is 10 times better than the situation in Afghanistan, yet the Americans exerted real and significant pressure on [various] elements in the Iraqi arena so that they would ask Washington to leave its invading forces in Iraq under the pretext of fearing a rapid return to anarchy and terror.
"This confirms the obvious, [namely that] the Americans recognize only their own interests. Even if this compels them to abandon their closest friend, they will not hesitate for a moment – for nothing is important [to them] but their own interests."
Endnote:
[1] Al-Rai (Jordan), June 24, 2011.
