Afghanistan at crossroads again
Will Afghanistan descend into chaos or there are prospects for peace after the US withdrawal
No prospects of Taliban’s military defeat.
Wasim Gohar
January 11, 2015
Afghanistan is at the crossroads. America’s longest war in the history has come to an end without completely defeating, disrupting and dismantling the rag tag forces in Afghanistan.
Taliban still hold sway over half of Afghanistan, and show no sign of collapse. The departure of US-led ISAF forces and incapacity of the Afghan National Security Force raises some critical questions. Will Afghanistan descend into chaos or there are prospects for peace that is absent since ages?
With the departure of winter, Taliban might be lurking for a new offensive. However, most of the Afghans are optimistic that Taliban cannot not over run Afghanistan once again. There are several reasons for this optimism. First, the stream of international financing for Taliban is nearly drying up. Their financial magnet, Osama Bin Ladin is dead; Saudi Arab has stopped funding the insurgency; and Pakistan is facing its own mess in FATA. Given such dwindling of international financing, the prospects of Taliban overtake are dismal.
Second, the rise of ISIS in Middle East has eclipsed al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and has deflected the attention of Arab and non-Arab Jihadis to a new cause. Afghanistan has been pushed into the backburner, depriving Taliban of financial and manpower support.
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