The Consequences of American Withdrawal from Afghanistan

 As the American and NATO forces begin to withdraw from Afghanistan, there is an air of impending apocalypse now.  The return of foreign powers will be accompanied by an almost immediate meltdown of the civilian Afghan regime and by the end of this year we could see a regime change in Kabul. The new Taliban regime would be more extremist, more repressive, and more fundamentalist than their earlier regimes two decades ago. The Afghan army, trained and equipped by America, is no match for the battle-hardened Taliban forces who do not operate under any moral, ethical, or Geneva-type conventions. The Afghan army will burn their uniforms and go hiding in the mountain passes, Tajikistan, or another neighboring country. The American government should seriously consider the fate of their Afghan “collaborators” who will be quickly exterminated by Taliban. It is the moral obligation of America to save as many of these people as it can.

The entry of American forces in Afghanistan twenty years ago was not an altruistic action. It was a strategic move, in furtherance of American national interests, to defend America, to hunt down Osama bin Laden and to destroy ISIS, and it incorporated the collateral benefits of being able to keep one eye on (nuclear) Iran and the other on deception-filled Pakistan. The presence of Americans in the region has produced only one long-term success—the killing of Osama bin Laden inside the territory of Pakistan, its treacherous buddy. The withdrawal of America will result in the rebirth of ISIS, the Taliban, and a host of other extremist and terrorist groups. They will be able to freely roam through both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and pose a serious threat to Kashmir, as well as to India as a whole. India would need all its resources, luck, and new relationships such as The Quad to fight these forces of evil.

 The vacuum created by the departure of American and allied forces will suck in China, a country that is always ready to swoop down and take advantage of any opportunity that comes its way. By the end of this year, we can expect to see the birth of a new Axis-of-Evil comprising of China, the failed state of Pakistan, and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. This is not a far-fetched scenario, we will definitely see this regressive development in the coming months. What can India do to safeguard its interests? “Buckle Up” and prepare for the worst. The Islamic forces that are now beginning to gather at our doorstep to the northwest comprise of the extremists, terrorists, and jihadi groups. And then we have China which will now be able to threaten us from two fronts.  India will need to use all its political and diplomatic prowess to divert the aggression of terrorist and Jihadi groups in Afghanistan towards China, that would before the yearend be ensconced in Afghanistan, for the persecution of its Uighur minority suffering a few hundred miles to the north.

Long Live Appeasement

When England and France finally declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939, disrupting a policy of appeasement towards Hitler, appeasement did not end there. Instead, it keeps rearing its ugly head from time to time and shows to the world that it remains a potent tool in the hands of weak and un-leader-like politicians who are unable to take a firm and principled stand on any issue. History is replete with examples of such leaders or kings who gradually lost their countries in the hope that by giving in to the seemingly modest demands of the bully they would be able to avoid war. But, it is not in the nature of bullies to be appeased. When their first demand is met, the bullies are emboldened to make their next demand, and so it goes on and on. There is no end.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, is a classic example of a weak politician who took the baton of appeasement from Neville Chamberlain within a decade of him (Chamberlain) laying it down reluctantly. Nehru’s appeasement of the British government and of Jinnah in the early forties, led to India’s partition and a permanent headache in the form of ‘Special Status for Kashmir under Article 370’ for generations of Indians. The repercussions of Nehru’s appeasement policy have kept India bogged down in a relentless faceoff with Pakistan, and provided an opportunity to Pakistan to hone its skills in waging and spreading global terror, since it cannot win a direct and conventional war with India.

Today, on June 26, 2020, I am seeing another Western leader, “Sleepy” Joe, as Donald Trump calls him, pick up the baton of appeasement and declare his full support for Islamists and Pakis by attacking the abrogation of Article 370, the CAA and NRC. It is hugely shocking that despite Mr. Biden having been in politics for more than half a century, he does not understand that by making such a statement, not only is he interfering in the internal affairs of India, he is also supporting a failed and terrorist state of Pakistan, and siding with a country that helped bring about the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. He is supporting a country that has always milked the United States of tens of billions of dollars during the long period of America’s War on Terror, by playing the double game of “running with the hares, and hunting with the hounds”. And, when President Obama was in the ‘War Room’ of the White House directing and watching the United States’ mission to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan where he was being hidden by that treacherous country, did you fall asleep “Sleepy” Joe? Or have you been sleeping throughout the frustration-filled years of your one-way alliance with Pakistan? Have you slept through the seventy years of free India’s history during which your friend Pakistan has waged a proxy war on the world’s largest democracy, India, wherein its terrorists, jihadis, infiltrators, ISI, and the regular army have conducted non-stop warfare/shelling killing three or four people almost every day along or inside our border.

What is most shocking about this act of appeasement, is the fact that despite America being the land of immigrants where millions of people come to escape persecution and genocide, the president-in-waiting of this great nation sees fit to oppose India’s parliamentary passage of the CAA and NRC bills, the main purpose of which is to give citizenship and home to the persecuted (bordering on genocide) minorities in Pakistan and other Islamic countries.

Brutal and inhuman killings continue in Kashmir

I find it extremely reprehensible that while the Pakistan army and Kashmiri separatists continue to kill or behead our brothers in Kashmir and other border areas on a daily basis, we not only don't feel the pain but continue to play cricket with them as if nothing has happened. Will I play cricket with my neighbor if he has just killed my brother. Why do our armed forces and the police have to put their lives on the line and bear the brunt of an unjust proxy war far away from home, family and friends while Bollywood stars are busy inviting and partying with Pakistani actors. At the same time, the whole nation itself seems to be enjoying the game of cricket far from the killing fields in Kashmir.

For seventy years now, Pakistan has been waging a proxy war against India. Almost every day 2 or 3 policemen, jawans, or civilians are killed by Pakis or Paki-sponspored terrorists and/or Kashmiri separatists. What are you doing Mr. Modi? Why did you invite Nawaz Sharif to your innauguration three years ago? Why did you drop in uninvited at Lahore on your way back from Kabul? Did you think that Pakistani mindset will change by making such gestures? Or, did you think that their unending hostility towards India will simply end. No Sir, Pakistan cannot be reformed and its stated policy of wresting Kashmir from India by fomenting trouble in the valley will never end. Pakistanis are like a dog whose tail you can put in a straight pipe for 10 years, but when you remove the pipe the tail will immediately go back to its curve. Even if you give them Kashmir on a platter, they will come back again and ask for Agra, Meerut, Moradabad, and so on. Don't kid yourself Mr. Modi, you should know better. Don't just show your teeth. Use them for what they are intended.

The BJP's inaction against Pakistan, contrary to the image of strength projected by the party, gave us Kargil during Mr. Vajpayee's tenure. Your inaction, Mr. Modi, is dragging us into a situation from which it would be almost impossible to extricate ourselves. Your overtures and gestures only make us look weak, and our inaction in response to daily nonstop provocations only emboldens the despicable Pakistani regime to further broaden the scope of their attacks. Pakistan is a failed state, and the hub of terrorism. India needs to learn from Israel--its policy of "if you kill one of us, we will kill one hundred" seems to work in the Middle East. Our nonviolence and restraint will only beget us greater violence, for these people do not understand the language of peace, in spite of Islam being the so-called "religion of peace".