Daily Times

American and allied forces have now left Afghanistan, lock, stock and barrel, but not before reducing the country to ruin and bringing misery to an untold number of people. Now the country needs to heal and rebuild itself; for which the Afghans will have to be left alone for once. And, all things considered, it’s more than a little unfair of Washington to stop Afghanistan’s funding, and also freeze its central bank’s holdings overseas, because everybody knows that without substantial financial help at this point the country will simply collapse. And then there will be more violence and more terrorism, which is going to affect other countries as well.

The best that can be done for Afghanistan right now is for other countries to help stabilise the Taliban government and stich together an aid program that will keep it stable. And that is precisely what countries in the region are doing. Russia and China have not shut down their embassies; which sends a very powerful diplomatic message to the international community. And Pakistan has gone a step further and called for a Marshall Plan like solution for the country’s financial problems.

Above all, the Americans must end their interference through drone strikes and threats of sanctions. They practically ran the country for two decades, and formed, funded and guided successive administrations in Kabul. Still, at the end of the war they were driven out by the same militia that they went to Afghanistan to drive out of Kabul. It is a historic reversal of fortunes and the Afghans have lived up to their fabled reputation as residents of a country that is in effect the graveyard of empires.

Washington must not only accept this outcome but also take some responsibility for the mess that its adventurism has left behind. Since it made the mess, it must also provide the lion’s share of the money now needed to clear some of it. Everybody in the world is now aware of America’s limitations despite boasting the biggest, most powerful and sophisticated military force that the world has ever seen. Hopefully Washington will not allow its diplomatic reputation to be torn to shreds as well and do what it can to help rebuild the country that it has helped destroy for so long.

It must also, before everything else, stop its blame game. And it must stop holding Pakistan responsible for everything that goes wrong in Afghanistan. It was Pakistan, after all, that helped bring the Taliban to the table, provided assistance with the evacuation, hosted thousands of foreign travelers, dedicated its national flag carrier to help things along, and even now stands ready to assist Afghanistan in any way possible. American, too, must display some good will towards the key players and stakeholders in this region instead of venting its own frustration on others. Instead of a spoiler, it must play the role of an enabler and help Afghanistan rebuild and reconstruct. *