The sorrows of the past and the dread of the future: Afghanistan’s tragic reliance on Washington

During a rally in California a few days ago, Biden addressed his few supporters on Thursday, “We will liberate Iran,” divulging the impact of his advancing dementia on his cognitive abilities. Although Biden lacks charisma and is a poor public speaker, the terms “liberating” and “freedom” are enchanting and serve as a reminder that all humans are born free. What transpires, however, if you put your trust in the White House?

The crucial question, however, is whether Biden and the American administration are genuinely committed to universal liberties and the emancipation of the so-called totalitarian countries. Are the American governments, Democrats or Republicans, living up to their campaign promises? Since honesty and truth are the most important pillars of international relations, are American policymakers trustworthy?

Many pundits argue that only impoverished Afghans with two decades of wretched life under the phoney American rhetoric can give cogent answers to these questions.

From 2001 through 2021, the Americans repeatedly perpetrated horrendous crimes, creating further chaos and instability in a nation already scarred by decades of strife. These crimes have been on different levels. From infantry to American diplomats, they have betrayed the people of Afghanistan, and there are enough documents corroborating all the American crimes in Afghanistan. The sheer brutality and savagery of the American and British soldiers in the country’s southern regions still haunts the Afghans; it has morphed into terrifying nightmares that torment locals to insanity. The attacks of American drones in various areas, which caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, are entirely documented and verified. Even the last American operation near Kabul’s airport must have reminded the world of the perils of American-style democracy.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the cunning and foxy diplomat, and the American diplomatic apparatus have allowed horrific calamities to unfold in Afghanistan, which we are all witnessing after August 2021.

Remember that all of America’s betrayals and horrific atrocities occurred under the banner of “We will set you free.” Yet, Americans, with their phoney claims of democracy and freedom, spared no atrocity against Afghanistan’s miserable people. In reality, the horrors committed by the US against Afghans in the name of “freedom” have rendered the concept of western “freedom” despicable. All of Afghanistan’s riots, insurgencies, and protests in the last 20 years have been against Uncle Sam’s “fictitious freedom.”

Like the notions of “freedom” and “liberty,” the administration and political structure that the United States built in Afghanistan were initially appealing. Afghans had naïvely hoped that the United States would intervene to end their country’s years of civil war, anarchy, and warlord rule. It took some time, however, for the Afghan people’s hope to turn to despair.

Afghans become more sceptical about their bleak prospects. After Hamid Karzai’s presidential rival Abdullah Abdullah claimed the second round election was rigged, it became clear that the Americans had failed miserably in developing a functional nation-state in Afghanistan, with rampant corruption and insecurity pervading all branches of government institutions. The Presidential Palace was easily infiltrated by foreign intelligence services, including Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Following Karzai’s presidency ended and US Secretary of State John Kerry installed the national unity government, corruption, bloodshed, lawlessness, and a lack of military discipline became more evident.

From the end of 2013 until Ghani’s disgraceful escape in August 2021, the world watched as Afghanistan’s society fell apart and violence swept across the country.

After the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate was established, Afghans witnessed the Americans’ double-dealing and betrayal. Afghanistan now recognises that American rhetoric has nothing to do with promoting democracy, and Afghanistan and the rest of the world have lost faith in America’s moral integrity.