Thursday, February 9, 2012

President Karzai: His Overestimated Self-Confidence

EDITORIAL:www.outlookafghanistan.net


For Afghan President, it has turned a dream to embrace his upset Taliban brothers. However, they've so far rejected his calls for brotherhood. The exhausting and insufficiently resourced war against terrorism has badly affected not only Afghanistan but the region and the entire globalized world. At the diplomatic level, government officials have always demonstrated a strong commitment and lasting will to defeat terrorism to rescue the mankind.

The practice, nonetheless, represents a different view. The hope for a terrorism-free world is fading, with terrorists gaining an upper hand in Afghanistan and regional equations and their evil-minded operations being justified by governments.

A handful of fugitive Taliban were sent on a short period exile, defied and then regrouped to carry out their ideologically mandated violence and destruction. It would never be an impossible job to eradicate Talibanism and extremism in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere if there were enough political will and a global consensus.

In Afghanistan, the fabulous Taliban story very easily turned into a horrific reality in absence of a clear strategy to fight them and with a vast local and foreign supports for the radical, dogmatic and fundamentalist ideology. It has now crossed its traditional, tribal hotbeds.

They are today seen operating across the formerly peaceful provinces in Afghanistan. More importantly, the sophisticatedly equipped military powers are retreating in fight against terrorism. To justify a prematurely planned withdrawal to get rid of the wrong policies and practices here, they have growingly painted an insuperable picture of extremist groups.

But the victory against Taliban has never been an unfeasible mission. It only needs enough political determination, reality-based strategies, regional and global consensus and sufficient resourcing. None will ignore the looming danger by conceding to militancy. But the shortsighted plans, personal interests and naïve understating of Talibanism have put Afghanistan and the region on a hazardous direction.

The weakening position of Afghan government under president Karzai in the so-called negotiation process has directly empowered Taliban to hold a higher position and the upper hand in talks. Afghanistan remains the subject of discussions but has never played the ideal role in talks and decision making.

Even, Taliban are insisting to hold direct talks with the US representatives in Qatar and elsewhere but never with Karzai government. Taliban have once more announced they are not going to sit with Afghan government representatives to discuss peace plans because they see, according to them, no real authority in Karzai's administration to handle things.

Reports said on Wednesday a spokesman for the Taliban denied a weekend report that Taliban representatives may meet with officials representing the government of President Hamid Karzai in Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks. Notwithstanding, Karzai says his government leads the negotiations.

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