Under the Doha Agreement, between the US and the Taliban, the US has pledged to withdraw all its forces by May 2021.

A recent report by Afghanistan Study Group (ASG), commissioned by the US Congress, recommends the new US administration to extend the deadline of US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, and any other further reduction of troops should be based on progress on peace talks and reduction of violence by the Taliban. The US should not ‘hand a victory to the Taliban,’ the report also stressed. The report was developed by a nonpartisan group that is co-chaired by Joseph Dunford, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and Kelly Ayotte, former US Senator (Republican). The report also highlighted that any full withdrawal of US troops at this time could lead to a civil war, regional instability and resurgence of al-Qaeda. (BBC Persian)

Comment:
Under the Doha Agreement, signed between the US and the Taliban, the US has pledged to be gradually reducing its forces from Afghanistan while withdrawing all its forces by May 2021.  But in recent days, the US government has been working tirelessly to extend its presence in Afghanistan. To that end, the US, NATO and the European Union have accused the Taliban of failing to live up to their commitments, including reducing violence, severing ties with al-Qaeda and failing to advance Intra-Afghan negotiations. Given these reasons, they claim that full withdrawal could lead to a full-scale offensive in Afghanistan, with the Taliban taking over the government and flaring up ‘civil war’ in the country.

At the same time, Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, in a phone conversation with Ashraf Ghani supported a democratic and stable future of Afghanistan, something for which the Taliban haven’t publicly expressed their full commitment.

We have repeated it many times, and reiterate it for the time being, that the US has always violated scores of conventions and alliances with others throughout its history because its policy is based on pragmatic strategies. While, on the other hand, Muslims have historically adhered to the covenants – as any violation of treaties is translated as ‘treason’ and/or an act contrary to Islamic belief. The Taliban, as an Islamic group, have committed themselves to the treaty by complying with most of the Doha Agreement so far. As it has been almost a year since the US forces have been completely safe in their bases and faced no serious threat during their gradual withdrawal.

On the other hand, the US’s excuse on Taliban for not cutting off their relations with al-Qaeda and helping them revive in the region is the same excuse as a wolf used to make to the sheep. The wolf used to blame the sheep by saying that, “Why are you causing the water to get muddy?” While the wolf itself used to reside on the top and drank water from the upper side of the river. The US has always labelled the Muslims as al-Qaeda and ‘terrorist’ who have ever stood against the interests of the US, the West and the prevailing world order. However, the US and its allies must realize that neither the Islamic Ummah will be out of Mujahedeen and the fighters to struggle against the occupation nor will the US nor its allies be able to stop the Mujahedeen from standing against the vicious acts of the occupation. Therefore, this excuse is the same as the cunning deception of the past and the revealed spell of the enemy.

We have also asserted that the US has obviously suffered a military failure in Afghanistan and is no longer able to continue the war in Afghanistan. Therefore, it wants to turn its defeat into ‘success’ through the so-called peace process, and it also intends to get out of the door and return again through windows based on the agreement struck with the Taliban. With Joe Biden taking office, the US is once again calling for the revision of the Doha Agreement, making excuses to not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by saying that the US should not “hand a victory to the Taliban.”

So the Taliban have to realize that the Democratic Party focuses more on diplomacy than war. The Trump administration manipulated the Doha Agreement in favor of the US, taking advantage of it to reduce US military expenses as well as to lead a safe withdrawal to a large number of its forces. Now, under the guise of diplomacy, the Democrats will not only end the longest war in American history, but will also strive to strengthen America’ fragile foundations in the region, especially in Afghanistan. Thus, Biden’s current policy as well as the White House’s excuses for the Taliban’s non-compliance with the Doha Agreement are part of these scenarios.

The Taliban must also realize that the US has learned for the past 20 years that defeating the Taliban by means of militarily measures is not possible because the Taliban fighters have Islamic belief and a strong motive to carry out ‘Jihad’ against the occupation. But the US and the West, through their experience with militant groups, especially in Islamic lands, have plotted to enter the political arena with you in the same way in order to first drag a large part of your leadership from war to the political arena and to eventually have an open access on you through their puppet rulers and systems to gradually remove you from the political arena by pushing you to dive in the democratic process.

So you have to accept that you are stuck in the deceptive thread of the Doha Agreement as the new US administration is trying to impose whatever they have planned by means of various kinds of pressure on you. In the meantime, one of the possible options that was remarkably felt even before the signing of the Doha Agreement was the continued military, intelligence and so on… US presence in Afghanistan.

So the Taliban should not be deceived by adhering to an agreement that the US will violate whenever it wants or whenever it fails to secure its interests. Because the US and the West have always deceived the Muslims one after another, and they will deal and move on in the same way with you and the entire Islamic groups. Neither Beijing, nor Moscow, nor Tehran can help you on this path forward, but the only way out is to leave the negotiating table as soon as possible, and stop walking in the corridors of the capital city of their puppet systems and the obvious enemies of the Ummah. The mere solution lies in continuation of ‘Jihad’ in the way of Allah (swt) to defeat and destroy the colonial powers, including US, NATO and their allies, which have shed the blood of thousands of Muslims stretching from Iraq to Syria and from Libya to Yemen and Afghanistan in the past two decades, making it possible for the Ummah with your swords, patience and sincerity.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Saifullah Mustanir
Director of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan

(Translated)