Daily Times

Afghanistan, Pakistan and China have rightly warned America against a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan because it seems that US President Trump might try to speed up the process to score political points in the upcoming presidential election in his country. The third round of the Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue urged all concerned parties to make sure that the exit is very orderly, otherwise there is the threat of terrorist groups, of which there are many in Afghanistan, would certainly take advantage of any vacuum that is created. Already there has been a sudden surge in violence in the country, with side actors like ISIS doing what they can to score as many hits as possible.

Another major worry is the delay in the commencement in the intra-Afghan dialogue that will really get the political process going in the country. It turns out that although the dialogue was due to start on March 10, disagreements between the Afghan government and Taliban commanders about prisoner release and exchange has put the whole thing on hold so far. The government is unwilling to release some 600 controversial inmates, because it says the crimes they have committed are unforgivable and there is also the threat of repeat offences if they are let out, and the Taliban would not have any other in their place. And that’s where the matter hit a wall some months ago and things haven’t moved ahead an inch since then.

There is an urgent need to time the withdrawal just right. Doing it too soon, before the Afghans have sorted out their business, could make the whole thing collapse and amount to an easy walkthrough victory for other terrorist groups. Delaying it too long, on the other hand, would no longer make it feasible for the Americans to give too much attention till the elections are over and the new administration, whether or not headed by the same president, has any time to give to it. The situation of ordinary Afghans, who sit, wait and suffer while other people decide their future, can only be described as desperate. This is the closest they have come to peace in a very long time, even though the manner in which the peace process was negotiated left a lot to be desired and it seemed, more often than not, that it would not be successful. Yet the country is now within a fighting chance of peace. And it must do everything possible to grab it. *