The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

Defending the US troop pullout from Afghanistan during a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan, US Secretary of State on September 13 said, “There’s no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government any more resilient or self-sustaining. If 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars in support, equipment, and training did not suffice, why would another year, or five, or ten, make a difference?”

But Blinken would not elaborate on the following:

• Why did the US continue to support Pakistan which was the primary reason for instability not only in Afghanistan but the region?
• Why did the US ignore periodic proofs that Pakistani regulars were covertly fighting inside Afghanistan in support of the Taliban?
• Why did US ignore successive reports by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that listed out Pakistan-based terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan by name?
• Why did the US feign that Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network are different entities even after Pakistan’s ISI succeeded in installing Sirajuddin Haqqani (religious head of Haqqani Network) as the deputy of Afghan Taliban?
• Above all, despite fighting Taliban for two decades, why did the US not brand it a terrorist organisation?

Handing over Afghanistan to the Taliban was obviously the long-term design of the US. This is the reason why despite fighting Taliban for 20 years, America never designated Taliban a terrorist organisation.

The US deliberately ignored UNAMA reports indicating that Afghanistan was already a terrorist haven. General John W. Nicholson, Commander US Forces in Afghanistan told reporters in December 2016 and the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9, 2017 that of the 98 US-designated terrorist organisations globally, 20 are located in Afghanistan-Pakistan region – 13 in Afghanistan and seven in Pakistan. How then did the US expect the Taliban to ensure that Afghanistan doesn’t become a terrorist haven, which it already was? As to the money that the US spent in Afghanistan, Christine Fair has described in her recent article how 70-80 per cent or money flowed back into the US.

Taliban’s interim government includes 14 UN-designated terrorists INCLUDING MULLAH ABDUL GHANI BARADAR (SHOWN HERE).

The badly executed US troop pullout is a separate issue but handing over Afghanistan to the Taliban was obviously the long-term design of the US. This is the reason why despite fighting Taliban for 20 years, America never designated Taliban a terrorist organisation. Despite the claim of being in the forefront of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and championing democratic values, America went ahead and signed the so-called US-Taliban peace deal with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar – UN-designated terrorist with a price on his head.

Why then would Taliban’s interim government not include some 14 UN-designated terrorists? The interim government as of now is supposed to be for six months but may become permanent given the support it has from countries like China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, some others and even the US having left billions of dollars worth of armament at their disposal in Afghanistan and subterfuge of the so-called demand for “inclusive government”.

The continuing US-Pakistan relationship is evil for us, in that, it indicates moves to de-stabilise India – part of America’s penchant to orchestrate regional wars

Blinken says there is no evidence to suggest that prolonged stay of US troops in Afghanistan would have made any difference. But there is ample evidence that not only suggest but confirm that putting stop to the terrorism emanating from Pakistan and ISI’s intimate support to the Taliban (backed by China) would have made all the difference to stabilise Afghanistan. What the US did is exactly the opposite by fully supporting Pakistan while making perfunctory noises against terrorism.

American Think Tanks keep saying US cannot use force against Pakistan because it has nuclear weapons. This is a totally absurd argument because US possess the wherewithal to subject Pakistan continuously to sub-conventional conflict that would force it come to senses and also disrupt the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

But it is to the credit of Pakistan that it holds the US hostage for a different reason. Pakistan has understood the psychology of successive American administrations that revolves around:

• Orchestrating regional wars to advance national interests and boost own economy.
• Weapon exports to any country or organisation (terrorist organisations included) overtly and covertly. There is evidence of the US air dropping weapons for ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq-Syria, pumping arms for the ISIS/ISKP in Afghanistan through Pakistan and of course the armament left for the Taliban in Afghanistan takes the cake.
• Establish terrorist organisations/shake hands with any and every terrorist organisation as long as they promise not to attack the US mainland. Rest of the world, including strategic partners like India, can go to hell and get terrorised.

All that Pakistan needed to do was help the US achieve its above aims which included providing well trained terrorists as one major tool. That is why despite Pakistan being behind bulk of US casualties in Afghanistan, America wants to continue “constructive engagement” with Pakistan. Politicians’ world over are least bothered about casualties of military personnel. Recent documents unclassified in the UK reveal how Britain connived with Pakistan-Taliban to kill British troops in Afghanistan. This goes for the US as well despite the fake political histrionics. If that was not the case, why did the US notplace sanctions on Pakistan when American troops were getting killed in Afghanistan?

Taliban takeover of Afghanistan presents a clear and present danger to India in terms of heightened terror threats in all its forms.

The continuing US-Pakistan relationship is evil for us, in that, it indicates moves to de-stabilise India – part of America’s penchant to orchestrate regional wars. The US cares little for Pakistani terrorism in India and what Indian territory is grabbed by China astride the Himalayas. Latter could even be a secret US-China understanding – to let China take territories of India it wants. US interests in India are restricted to selling weapons and cooperation on the waters of the Indo-Pacific, especially in Western Pacific.

In the ‘Middle Ages’ the eastern part of Afghanistan was recognised as part of India while its western parts were included in Khorasan. The Hindu Kush Mountains got its name from the empire of Ashoka the Great. The eastern end of the Hindu Kush in the north merges with the Karakoram Range while at its southern end it connects with the Spin Ghar Range near the Kabul River. The Bamyan Buddhas were two 6th-century statues of Vairocana Buddha and Gautama Buddha carved into the side of a cliff 130 km northwest of Kabul.

Taliban takeover of Afghanistan presents a clear and present danger to India in terms of heightened terror threats in all its forms. This is all the more because the US and China will continue to support Pakistan. Let us not seek solace behind views that Pakistan will find it difficult to handle the Taliban, Pakistan will get Talibanised or Pakistan may implode. We need a proactive policy to deal with the situation.