Daily Times

Till the date, much has been written on the history of Afghanistan; it’s invasion by USSR and its collapse, which was followed by a severe wave of extremism led by the global terrorist organisation; The Al-Qaida, which exploited the Afghan soil for its goal of global jihad against west, resulting in the emergence of the dark events of 9/11 and the America’s declaration of war on terrorism. All together resulted to put an already war shattered Afghanistan into further chaos, which ended up in a ruthless and deadly civil war that was to last for the decades to come. Amid the fierce civil war, many journalists and authors from Pakistan as well as other from countries went to witness the war and pen down its horrific scenarios, despite being aware the risk that they might lose their lives. One of them was the Pakistani renowned journalist and author, Ahmed Rashid; the best-selling foreign policy author of several books about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

After graduating, Rashid spent ten years in the hills of Balochistan, western Pakistan attempting to organise an uprising against the Pakistani military dictatorships of Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan. He ended his guerrilla fighting days frustrated and defeated and turned his attention to writing about his homeland.

He has been the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph for more than 20 years and a correspondent for Far Eastern Economic Review. He also writes for The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Daily Times (Pakistan) and academic journals. His books include: THE RESURGENCE OF CENTRAL ASIA. TALIBAN: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, JIHAD: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia and

His work on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia is widely read and appreciated. So, in order to understand catastrphic and deadly events of 9/11 and the dramatic changes that appeared in the politics of the post 9/11 world, it is must for one to read Ahmed Rashid’s thoroughly written book “Descent into chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia”. Being a journalist, he himself visited the war-ravaged cities of Afghanistan to witness the war and bring the self-analysed events to the readers. The 9/11 attacks, the America’s war on terrorism and it’s repeated warning that “either u r with us or with the terrorists” are well defined by the writer.

“The attacks of 9 /11 created widespread trepidation in the region as America unsheathed its sword for a land invasion of Afghanistan, but they also created enormous expectations of change and hope for a more sustained Western commitment to the region that would lift it out of poverty and underdevelopment”, writes the author, “Instead, as the years passed, the U.S.-led war on terrorism left in its wake a far more unstable world than existed on that momentous day in 2001.” Thus, proving the expectations of a stable post 9/11 world to remain mere expectations. Pakistan had palyed a pivotal role in the fight of Afghanistan against USSR inavsion and had trained Mujahidin to fight the war. Now it wast the time for Pakistan to either keep its support alive to the Afghan jihadist or align with the US in the upcoming war against terrorism. The dictatorial regime of Pervez Musharraf had no choice but to align with America in the war on terrorism, if it wanted not to be listed in America’s list of terrorist countries. So, it pledged US to provide all the possible support. So, Pakaistan began its war against the Afghan jihadis, whom it once had trained and supported during the USSR invasion. Since The US now considered Pakistan as its  frontlineer in the war on terrorism,  America’s relations with Pakistan dramatically changed as the debt relief and flow of began, which Pakistan used to spend on the military in order to conter the arch-rival India.

After a ruthless long-run war against Talibans and Al-Qaida, the US along with the NATO forces succeeded in ousting the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaida. But, The US willingly neglected to rebuild the war-ravaged Afghanistan. The writer criticizes the America’s for its failure to rebuild the war-torn Afghan nation after the outset of the Islamist Taliban regime. “The West’s failure to follow through on nation building has disillusioned millions of people and made too many Muslims ready recruits for al Qaeda, ” claims the author. The US completely diverted its resources to the upcoming war in iraq and to haunt the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks, leaving behind a fragile Afghanistan in the hands of warlords, which resulted in a deadly civil war as the different fraction of Afghan warlords fought each other for the greed of power. America’s unwillingness to invest adequate resources in order rebuild the Afghan nation and establish a functional democratic government led to the emergence of another wave of violence by the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaida, whose leaders had escaped to take shelters int he Pakistan’s then FATA regions-that were to be the next operating base for Al-Qaida and Talibans-and the Balochistan’s Capital, Quetta. It was America’s nativity that it thought it had completed the job in Afghanistan and went on to focus on its next war in Iraq. “The region that spawned al Qaeda and which the United States had promised to transform after 9 /11, the crisis is even more dangerous. Afghanistan is once again staring down the abyss of state collapse, despite billions of dollars in aid, forty-five thousand Western troops, and the deaths of thousands of people, ” writes the author.

Amid the chaos within the Afghan warlords, the incumbent authorities’ incompetency to build a stable government and USA’s neglect towards the nation building provided the Talibans with the opportunity to reorganize with the help of Al-Qaida. With the support of Pakistani military and jihadist groups, the Talibans again began the journey to establish their Islamist regime in Afghanistan. This demonstrated the Pakistan’s intention to play double-game. On the one hand, it pretended to support the US, and on the other hand, it provided The Aghan Taliban with all the possible support. After Afghanistan, FATA became ground base for the Al-Qaida, The Talibans and their affiliated jihadist organisations.

Many terrorist attacks that took place in west had connection with the FATA either this way or that. the America was well aware of the Pakostan’s support to the Taliban. The US demanded that Musharraf put curb on all extremist’s activities and rein in the support that it was providing to the Talibans, but Pakistan was reluctant to accept that and even denied the presence of Al-Qaida, Taliban or any other affiliated organisation. Fearing that they might lose Musharraf support for the haunt of the Al-Qaida leaders, America didn’t mount further pressure on Musharraf and said that Musharraf is a loyal patron of ours and has done much to curb the extremism. Pakistan’s double-game policy was based on the aim to counter the rival India’s influence in Afghanistan, as the pro-indian party: The Northern Alliance (NA), led by President Hamid karzai, was the incumbent government in Afghanistan. Pakistan put baseless allegations on Karzai that it was providing India with the Afghan soil to fuel the insurgency among the Baloch and Sindhis. However, those allegations were mere an excuse to justify Pakistan’s support to The Talibans, as it thought that it could establish a Pro-Pakistan regime by supporting the Pashtun Talibans, as well as to support the kashmir cause by utilizing those jihadis to fight its proxy war in Indian Kashmir. But that notion had nothing to do with the reality and was soon to be prove wrong as the Talibans began to attack the Pakistani Military as well as the common citizens, in order to establish an Islamist regime in Pakistan. Musharraf was attacked three times by the Talibans where he miracally survived, but hundreds of civilian casualties took place where the attacks took place. The Musharraf’s unwillingness to rein in its support for the Islamist extremists frustrated the pakistani people who had lost hundreds of their beloved ones in the hands the Islamist terrorists. Thousands of people took it to the streets to protested against the dictatorial regime and asked that Musharraf bring back the democracy by resigning to his post. Benazir Bhutto, who was the last hope for the restoration of democracy, was assassinated in a mysterious attack claimed to have been perpetrated by the TTP. The Pakistan military finally admitted that jihadi extremists that it had nurtured for years were now out of their command when the TTP began its deadly suicidal attacks and massacred thousands of civilians and military personnels. So, amid the mounting pressure from the west, Musharraf agreed to provide the US with intelligence to track down the Taliban and Al-Qaida leaders, which it had never agreed to do so before. Hundreds of militants war killed or captured by the US and Pakistan intelligence in the operation against the extremists. The writer criticizes the US for its ridiculous notion which they kept reiterating that by that their job was done with the defeat of Taliban regime, but they were to regret years after the war. “It is ironic that finally, in 2008, the new U.S. Army doctrine stipulates that stabilizing war-torn countries is just as important as defeating the enemy, ” writes the author. A world which was traumatized after attacks of 9/11, it required the people and the regimes to understand that they had to move towards greater democracy to get the world out of the choas. “Pakistan has shown a new beginning in 2008, and Afghanistan still has the potential to do so, ” writes the author.