Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Afghanistan's next presidential election

By Sabir Siddiqi - posted Tuesday, 11 March 2014


This is underlined by the recent visit of Ashraf Ghani to Saudi Arabia, the religiously incorrect photos of which were widely shared on social media. In Saudi Arabia he has likely met with key Taliban supporters.

Election of a candidate from the second camp, led by former Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah leads to a different scenario.

First, there is deep-seated mistrust between this camp and the US, going back to the cold war when the Pakistani lobby in the US portrayed the North-based Jihadi factions as untrustworthy and encouraged the West and Arabs to back on the south-based groups.

Advertisement

As detailed by former US secretary of defense, Robert Gates, in his book titled Duty, this mistrust was further underpinned by secret advice of some of the top leaders of the current ruling team of Afghanistan to US officials.

Second, the Taliban and their regional supporters do not trust the Jihad-centered camp because most of their leading figures resisted the Taliban in the late 1990s and later in 2001 helped the US to topple the Taliban regime.

This renders it more difficult to encourage the Taliban to enter a peace negotiation with their former enemies.

The Jihad-centered groups also hold many grudges against the Taliban, holding them accountable for the assassination of several of their top leaders during the past decade.

In addition, the jihad-centered political forces also have a tendency for decentralization of power, which is wrongly perceived as a ploy to partition Afghanistan.

Lastly, assuming that a jihadi-centered candidate wins the elections it is unlikely that the ethnocentrists would cooperate with it, rather backing the Taliban, much as in the 1990s when they helped the Taliban as writers, analysts and strategists.

Advertisement

A quick and careful policy shift along with responsible and timely action is needed to control the situation and compel President Karzai to sign the BSA.

Only a comprehensive commitment to such a policy revision and ensuring free and fair elections under the watchful eye of the international community can prevent further deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan.

Failure to defeat the Taliban and other terrorists in Afghanistan would embolden terrorist networks around the world, thus jeopardizing the democratization of Afghanistan and posing critical security threats to the country, the region and beyond.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

Reza Fazli assisted with editing.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

1 post so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Muhammad Sabir Siddiqi is the director of Development and Public Awareness (DPA) and has worked as advisor in the United Nations and other national and international organizations in Afghanistan and Australia.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Sabir Siddiqi

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 1 comment
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy